I
could handle the diarrhea, but the excruciating, rip-your-gut-open, bend
over and die, pain was beyond my abilities. My mom took me in to a doctor
appointment. She worried about the overuse of antibiotics as I began my
prescribed medication. Eventually, the lab results showed that I had
Salmonella. These events got my ExploraVision team thinking.
We
researched Mom’s antibiotic concern and discovered that bacteria were
pretty
adaptive little buggers. Not only do they overcome some antibiotics, but
they also pass this ability on to their offspring. Emails to research
scientists showed that many believed DNA testing would be the future’s
identification method of choice. Current DNA testing takes weeks and a
physical sample is needed. Dr. Paul Liebman’s comment, “confidence comes
from just smelling the different odors of different bacterial growth plates,”
led us to the idea of developing something that could smell the difference
between microbes. If our nose’s sensory receptor cells detect smells, and
then send electrical impulses through our nerves, then electronic sensors
should also be able to detect the chemicals given off by microbes. This
information could be recorded as unique electrical print patterns
illustrated as 3-D scatter plots. A computer could identify an unknown
pathogen by comparing these “electrical print patterns.”
Our
home version of the MID System would eliminate long waits for doctor
appointments, and would reduce medical costs, therefore reducing insurance
costs. Unreadable handwritten prescriptions would become obsolete through
computer-generated prescriptions emailed directly to a pharmacy and
authenticated with the doctor’s thumbprint. The Microbe ID System would save
time, money, and lives.
I
could handle the diarrhea, but the excruciating, rip-your-gut-open, bend
over and die, pain was beyond my abilities. My mom took me in to a doctor
appointment. She worried about the overuse of antibiotics as I began my
prescribed medication. Eventually, the lab results showed that I had
Salmonella. These events got my ExploraVision team thinking. 
We
researched Mom’s antibiotic concern and discovered that bacteria were
pretty
adaptive little buggers. Not only do they overcome some antibiotics, but
they also pass this ability on to their offspring. Emails to research
scientists showed that many believed DNA testing would be the future’s
identification method of choice. Current DNA testing takes weeks and a
physical sample is needed. Dr. Paul Liebman’s comment, “confidence comes
from just smelling the different odors of different bacterial growth plates,”
led us to the idea of developing something that could smell the difference
between microbes. If our nose’s sensory receptor cells detect smells, and
then send electrical impulses through our nerves, then electronic sensors
should also be able to detect the chemicals given off by microbes. This
information could be recorded as unique electrical print patterns
illustrated as 3-D scatter plots. A computer could identify an unknown
pathogen by comparing these “electrical print patterns.” 
Our
home version of the MID System would eliminate long waits for doctor
appointments, and would reduce medical costs, therefore reducing insurance
costs. Unreadable handwritten prescriptions would become obsolete through
computer-generated prescriptions emailed directly to a pharmacy and
authenticated with the doctor’s thumbprint. The Microbe ID System would save
time, money, and lives.