(University of Michigan: Ann Arbor, MI) -- Portable gas sensors can allow you to search for explosives, diagnose medical conditions through a patient’s breath, and decide whether it’s safe to stay in a mine.

These devices do all this by identifying and measuring airborne chemicals, and a new, more sensitive, smart model is under development at the University of Michigan (U-M). The smart sensor could detect chemical weapon vapors or indicators of disease better than the current design. It also consumes less power, crucial for stretching battery life while down a mineshaft or in isolated clinics.

In the gold standard method of gas detection, chemicals are separated before they are measured, said Xudong Fan, a professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering.

“In a vapor mixture, it’s very difficult to tell chemicals apart,” he says.

Xudong Fan, an associate professor of biomedical engineering, points to the compressor that is part of the smart, portable gas sensor he is developing. Image credit: Joseph Xu, College of Engineering

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