? ? ICx-Agentase aims to develop a continuously operating wearable badge that utilizes biocatalytic sensing elements to monitor chemical toxins in air. The proposed wearable, low maintenance, self-contained device will provide real-time measurements of chemical toxins at the point of contact and will provide wireless communication tools to forward the data to a central data collection station. ICx-Agentase is currently developing a wearable badge for detection of chemical agents with support from the United States Defense Threat Reduction Agency and the United States Army Research Office (W911NF-05-C-0004). At this point we have a fully functional, continuously operating prototype device for detection of nerve agents in air. This technology employs inexpensive sensing elements which need to be replaced periodically. The instrument does not require intensive maintenance or calibration. This technology has been successfully tested in independent live agent tests at an approved United States Government facility. With this three year research effort we aim to increase our detection capabilities and improve this prototype by making it smaller, lighter and cheaper to allow the large environmental population studies. Key features will be: High sensitivity with rapid response time (<2 minutes); Analyte specific quantitative detection (four sensing cartridges for detection of ozone, heavy metals, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and pesticides, respectively); High resistance to potentially interfering environmental conditions such as temperature and humidity; High resistance to potential chemical interferents; Wearable with global positioning system (GPS) tracking and wireless communication to enable central data collection; Expandable platform technology (each device can support two interchangeable sensing elements for detection of two different exposure classes); Low maintenance; Inexpensive (< $5 operating costs per day - utilize replaceable sensing cartridges); Increase operational lifetime of sensing cartridges to at least 36 hours. ? ? ?
