Ortiz Pérez Alvaro, Kallfaß-de Frenes Vera, Filbert Alexander, Kneer Janosch, Bierer Benedikt, Held Pirmin, Klein Philipp, Wöllenstein Jürgen, Benyoucef Dirk, Kallfaß Sigrid, Mescheder Ulrich, Palzer Stefan
Laboratory for Gas Sensors, Department of Microsystems Engineering, University of Freiburg, Freiburg 79110, Germany.
Steinbeis Transfer Center, Social Planning, Qualification and Innovation, Meersburg 88709, Germany.
Sensors (Basel). 2016 Dec 29;17(1):58. doi: 10.3390/s17010058.
This manuscript describes the design considerations, implementation, and laboratory validation of an odor sensing module whose purpose is to support people that suffer from incontinence. Because of the requirements expressed by the affected end-users the odor sensing unit is realized as a portable accessory that may be connected to any pre-existing smart device. We have opted for a low-cost, low-power consuming metal oxide based gas detection approach to highlight the viability of developing an inexpensive yet helpful odor recognition technology. The system consists of a hotplate employing, inkjet-printed p-type semiconducting layers of copper(II) oxide, and chromium titanium oxide. Both functional layers are characterized with respect to their gas-sensitive behavior towards humidity, ammonia, methylmercaptan, and dimethylsulfide and we demonstrate detection limits in the parts-per-billion range for the two latter gases. Employing a temperature variation scheme that reads out the layer's resistivity in a steady-state, we use each sensor chip as a virtual array. With this setup, we demonstrate the feasibility of detecting odors associated with incontinence.
本手稿描述了一种气味传感模块的设计考量、实现方式及实验室验证，该模块旨在为尿失禁患者提供支持。由于受影响的终端用户提出的要求，气味传感单元被实现为一种便携式附件，可连接到任何现有的智能设备。我们选择了一种基于低成本、低功耗金属氧化物的气体检测方法，以突出开发一种价格低廉但有用的气味识别技术的可行性。该系统由一个热板组成，热板采用喷墨打印的氧化铜（II）和铬钛氧化物的p型半导体层。对这两个功能层针对湿度、氨、甲硫醇和二甲基硫的气敏行为进行了表征，并且我们展示了后两种气体在十亿分之一范围内的检测限。采用一种在稳态下读出层电阻率的温度变化方案，我们将每个传感器芯片用作一个虚拟阵列。通过这种设置，我们证明了检测与尿失禁相关气味的可行性。
