Opto-electronic biosensor for remote monitoring of toxins

摘要

A biosensor telemetry system for the on-line remote monitoring of toxic sites is described in this paper. The device is a self-contained field measurement system that employs immobilized luminescent Vibrio fisheri bacteria to detect airborne contaminants. The presence of toxic chemicals in the air will lead to a measurable decrease in the intensity of light produced by the bacteria population. Both cellular and environmental factors control the level of bioluminescence exhibited by the bacteria. The biological sensing element is placed inside a miniature airflow chamber that houses a light-to-frequency transducer, power supply, and Radio-Frequency (RF) transmitter to convert the intensity of bioluminescence exhibited by the bacteria population into a radio signal that is picked up by a RF receiver at a safe location. The miniature biosensor can be transported to the investigated on either a terrestrial or airborne robotic vehicle. Furthermore, numerous spatially distributed biosensors can be used to both map the extent and the rate-of-change in the dispersion of the hazardous contaminants over a large geographical area.