We are envisioning a biomedical sensor that will be installed on the front of a child’s tooth, and will be approximately one millimeter square and several molecular layers thick, which means it will not be obtrusive. The sensor will need to be built out of a ceramic material and will be a molecular sieve with pores that precisely match the size of nitric oxide (NO) molecules.
When an asthmatic’s bronchioles begin to inflame, (click here to view bronchioles) their NO levels increase, which makes NO an ideal inflammatory marker. Because of the ceramic sensor’s precise molecular structure, it will be highly sensitive to detecting minute levels of NO down to parts per billion. Being able to sense slight increases of NO is important, because it is an indicator that the epithelial lining of the bronchioles is beginning to become inflamed.
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