Nanotechnology-Based Environmental Smart Sensors for Personal Health Exposure Monitoring

基于纳米技术的环境智能传感器，用于个人健康暴露监测

• 批准号: 9047822
• 负责人: Krishna Naishadham
• 金额: $ 15万
• 依托单位: WI-SENSE, LLC
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-02-01 至 2017-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9047822
• 关键词: Accelerometer; Address; Adsorption; Air; Air Pollutants; Asthma; Biological; Biosensor; Blood; Breathing; Car Phone; Carbon Nanotubes; Cellular Phone; Chemicals; Climate; Collaborations; Communication; Data; Data Display; Detection; Development; Diagnostic; Diffusion; Discrimination; Dose; Electronics; Ensure; Environment; Environmental Pollutants; Environmental Risk Factor; Epidemiologic Studies; Epidemiologist; Epidemiology; Evaluation; Exhalation; Exposure to; Feasibility Studies; Film; Frequencies; Gases; Goals; Health; Health Care Costs; Health Professional; Heart Rate; Hospitalization; Hour; Human; Human Volunteers; Humidity; Individual; Laboratories; Learning; Life; Location; Lung diseases; Marketing; Measurement; Measures; Metadata; Molecular; Monitor; Morbidity - disease rate; Morphology; Motion; Nanotechnology; Outcome; Ozone; Particulate Matter; Performance; Phase; Physical activity; Physiological; Pilot Projects; Pollution; Polymers; Population; Population Sizes; Printing; Public Health; Pump; Recruitment Activity; Research; Respiration; Respiratory physiology; Saliva; Sampling; Seasons; Signal Transduction; Smog; Source; Specimen; Staging; Surface; Sweat; Sweating; Thick; Time; Universities; Urine; Validation; Vision; Weight; Wireless Technology; Work; airway inflammation; ambient air pollution; asthmatic; base; cost; design; detector; dosage; field study; fitness; greenhouse gases; human subject; improved; meetings; mortality; nanoparticle; nanosensors; oxidant gases; ozone exposure; personal exposure monitor; pollutant; polybutadiene; prototype; public health relevance; radio frequency; respiratory health; response; sensor; stressor; tool; toxicant; trafficking

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): A broad goal of the proposed research is to develop personal exposure monitors comprising wearable, wireless sensor arrays to detect harmful air pollutants within the breathing zone, and improve the assessment of causative exposure-dose-response relationships in epidemiological studies. Heterogeneous orthogonal detectors comprising functionalized carbon nanotube (CNT) based resonators will be designed and integrated with a smart phone platform, targeting the detection of ambient ozone (O3) in Phase 1, particulate matter, NOx and VOCs in Phase 2. Ozone not only influences climatic changes globally through greenhouse gas emissions, but also produces adverse health effects in humans as a secondary pollutant in urban smog through precursors generated in traffic and industrial pollution. As a powerful oxidant gas, O3 can elicit a range of physiological responses once inhaled, including reduced lung function and inflamed airways, exacerbating respiratory diseases such as asthma. Numerous research efforts address the relationship between ozone exposure and health outcomes including mortality and morbidity (hospitalizations, decrements in lung function, and asthma status), but due to lack of personal exposure data, considerable error may be introduced in assessing dose-response relationships. Currently, there are no existing sensors in the market suitable for real- time O3 exposure measurement within the breathing zone. Phase 1 research develops an ozone exposure detector array, fabricated using two classes of nanosensors: (a) polybutadiene polymer-functionalized CNT thin-films, (b) CNT thin-films decorated with Pt or Pd metallic nanoparticles. Both offer maximum sensitivity to ozone while reducing cross-sensitivity to interferents such as NOx. These detector films are integrated with compact radio-frequency (RF) resonators, which respond with unique resonance shift caused by molecular level gas adsorption on the film interface. In contrast to a chemiresistor, both amplitude and frequency shifts in this RF nanosensor may be used to minimize false positives for robust discrimination. Differential signaling between the primary sensor and a reference sensor (pure CNTs) compensates for environmental factors such as humidity, further improving selectivity. The differential signal is wirelessly interfaced through a microcontroller t a smart phone for data display of concentration levels and data communication to public health professionals or regulatory bodies via participatory and ubiquitous sensing. Additionally, sensors embedded in the mobile phone yield information on motion, physical activity, time stamp and GPS location of the subject that can be correlated to the exposure. A prototype O3 sensor will be developed and its performance characterized under controlled laboratory and ambient conditions. Field tests will be conducted on human volunteers to detect ambient ozone as a function of time over several days, and results compared directly with measurements made by standard badge samplers. Causative relationships will be explored by measuring eNO concentrations following the exposure, in collaboration with an environmental epidemiologist.

 描述（由申请人提供）：拟议研究的一个广泛目标是开发包含可穿戴无线传感器阵列的个人暴露监测器，以检测呼吸区内的有害空气污染物，并改进流行病学中对致病暴露-剂量-反应关系的评估研究将设计由基于功能化碳纳米管（CNT）的谐振器组成的异质正交探测器，并将其与智能手机平台集成，旨在检测环境臭氧。第一阶段的臭氧（O3），第二阶段的颗粒物、氮氧化物和挥发性有机化合物。臭氧不仅通过温室气体排放影响全球气候变化，而且作为城市烟雾中的二次污染物，通过交通和运输中产生的前体对人类产生不利的健康影响。作为一种强氧化剂气​​体，O3一旦被吸入就会引起一系列生理反应，包括肺功能下降和呼吸道发炎，从而加剧哮喘等呼吸道疾病。解决臭氧暴露努力与健康结果之间的关系，包括死亡率和发病率（住院、肺功能下降和哮喘状态），但由于缺乏个人暴露数据，目前在评估剂量反应关系时可能会引入相当大的错误。市场上没有适合呼吸区内实时 O3 暴露测量的传感器，第一阶段研究开发了一种臭氧暴露检测器阵列，该阵列使用两类纳米传感器制造：(a) 聚丁二烯。聚合物功能化 CNT 薄膜，(b) 装饰有 Pt 或 Pd 金属纳米颗粒的 CNT 薄膜，两者都提供对臭氧的最大灵敏度，同时降低对 NOx 等干扰物的交叉灵敏度。 (RF) 谐振器，其响应由薄膜界面上的分子级气体吸附引起的独特共振位移，与化学电阻器相比，该 RF 纳米传感器中可以使用幅度和频率位移。最大程度地减少误报，实现稳健区分。主传感器和参考传感器（纯碳纳米管）之间的差分信号可补偿湿度等环境因素，从而进一步提高选择性。差分信号通过微控制器与智能手机进行无线连接，以显示数据。此外，嵌入手机中的传感器还可以提供与受试者相关的运动、体力活动、时间戳和 GPS 位置信息。将开发原型 O3 传感器，并在受控实验室和环境条件下对人类志愿者进行现场测试，以检测环境臭氧随时间的变化，并将结果直接与标准测量结果进行比较。徽章采样器将与环境流行病学家合作，通过测量暴露后的 eNO 浓度来探索因果关系。