Handheld to detect biological hazards

Mobile Commerce World ^ | July 3, 2003 | Mobile News

[FairOpinion]

The power of a laboratory in a handheld device - that is what the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) will add to its arsenal in two years.

The state-of-the-art chip will help SAF troops detect deadly biological agents like anthrax and swiftly diagnose conditions like malaria while in the thick of action.

Said Professor Thomas Gong, director of Attogenix Biosystems: "Using this biological lab-in-a-chip or biochip, a soldier will be able to test if his fever is due to the common cold or Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome)." The device can also test whether water from a stream is safe to drink. It can even be "air-dropped into possi-ble war-zones to check if the area is safe to enter", he added.

While portable chemical detection kits have been around for a while, there is currently no equivalent kit to test for biological agents. This is because of the high cost and complexity in extracting and analysing biological materials, which are much more unstable than chemical materials.

While the technology has been around for a while, no one has been able to devise a portable yet cost-effective system. Attogenix's breakthrough is in a new patent-pending technology that may finally make a biochip possible.

Smart chip at work Attogenix is a joint venture between the Nanyang Technological University and the Defence Science and Technology Agency. Researchers have been working on the biochip for the last four years. A prototype should be out within the next six months, but the product rollout is expected only in two years. With the device, soldiers will be able to drop samples of water or blood onto tiny "wells" on a silicon-based slide.

With some modifications, air can also be tested. The slide is inserted into an analyser, the size of a PDA (personal digital assistant). The soldier selects the biological agents to be tested for, say smallpox or malaria. The analyser then extracts genetic material from the samples and searches for the biological agents.

The Attogenix team is now working on simplifying the interface so that troops can use the device without a hassle, said Prof Gong. Attogenix is also building in remote communication capability into the biochip, so that it can be remotely deployed at places like reservoirs.

[FairOpinion]

Quick and easy detection will go a long way towards reducing the impact of bioterror attacks, or even spread of infectious diseases unrelated to terror.

[doug from upland]

There is a device being used in the Port of Dover to detect nitrates and other explosive materials in cargo containers. It is about time to bring it here. It could be imbedded under a grate in the road at the entrance to an airport. As cars slowly drive over it, it shoots a blast of air and nitrates would be detected. It is kind of a good idea to detect a bomb at the perimeter rather than watch it explode at curbside, which if for loading and unloading of passengers only.

Here is another cool security device:

The Metal Detector Glove.
The glove is used like a wand and leaves two hands free to deal with bad guys. It uses a 9-volt battery. Metal causes a vibration in the palm.

[FairOpinion]

Very interesting. We need to use all these to prevent things from getting into the country.

I think we have a new policy, which may not be fully implemented yet, to search cargo headed to US at their port of origin, not at their point of arrival into the US. That makes a lot of sense, because if someone manages to smuggle a nuke as far as a US port, they could explode it right in the port and do a lot of damage.

The more countries would use devices such that you mention and others at their borders, the more likely it is that these things would get discovered early.