Small but mighty! This applies to the new optoacoustic sensors that we are developing in the RSENSE project. By using modern laser diodes, we are making our technology smaller and also much cheaper. On the one hand, the sensors are intended to enable the early diagnosis of cardio-metabolic diseases such as diabetes. On the other hand, the sensors can identify pollutants such as black carbon in exhaust gases and are intended to be used in the automotive sector.

Medical sensors:

Disease detection today occurs at a late stage, after the manifestation of clinical symptoms, although early disease detection is the best possible first step for efficient intervention and therapy of many diseases. Modern healthcare needs direct frequent monitoring of critical information for leading to early detection or home-based monitoring of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Most medical measurements for this kind of information either are invasive (blood-samples) or require specialized instrumentation only available in hospitals and clinics, such as MRIs. Today, portable optical sensors, such as FitBit or Apple, measure simple information that is not appropriate for complex diagnostics. Desired critical information remains elusive with such optical sensors. This is because optical sensors cannot accurately disentangle depth, absorption and scattering contributions, neither in frequency nor in time-domain modes, due to the diffuse nature of the light measured. RSENSE overcomes these issues mainly by using optoacoustics sensors (OA) with unique features. We aim to advance data analytics that can integrate also other information with the unique biological, metabolic and environmental parameters measured, not available to any other non-invasive sensor today, and the potential to offer quantitative assessment of disease using a simple single-point, non-invasive 1 second measurement.

Environmental sensor:

Clean air is pivotal for public health as poor air quality is associated with a series of diseases, especially of the respiratory system, including asthma or lung cancer. The spectrum of air pollutants is broad and includes greenhouse gases and other particles. Transport sector, energy production, and industry use engines that are one of the main sources of gaseous and particulate emissions that deteriorate the air quality. Current devices that can measure different air pollutants are available, e.g. Portable Emission Measuring Systems (PEMS) or aetholometers. These devices come with major drawbacks: they are bulky, expensive, cannot measure multiple gases and particulates simultaneously, do not offer a broad characterization profile of emissions and environmental pollutants, or require correction algorithms for different aerosols. Especially, portable detection of emissions is similarly problematic or even not possible. RSENSE aims at opening up a new era in on-board diagnostics by allowing frequent measurements of emissions for on-board use in various areas, e.g. automobiles, ships, and industries. Our sensor can revolutionize environmental sensing by using a dense urban network of inexpensive sensors providing real-time information and diagnostics on environmental or vehicle conditions. This information is crucial to inform about environmental conditions and enforce guidelines protecting public health. Additionally, the measurements help to understand environmental and climate effects of specific particles.