smartecoponics on site microbial sensing for minimising environmental risks from aquaponics

The main objective of SMARTECOPONICS is the design and development of a novel approach for monitoring the main biological hazards affecting consumers of aquatic foods. This includes pathogens (coliforms and cyanobacteria) and biotoxins that, when consumed in excess of threshold quantities, can lead to illness. The proposal offers a complete solution to monitor microbiological species involved into maintain the equilibrium among microbial activity, nutrients and wastes along the value chain of aquaponics regards human health risks. [More](http://www.waterjpi.eu/joint-calls/joint-call-2016-1/smartecoponics

Low-Cost Sweating-Rate Sensor for Dehydration Monitoring in Sports

A total-cumulated-sweat/sweating-rate sensor for real-time monitoring of athletes' hydration is presented. Fabricated on flexible substrates using techniques compatible with rollto-roll production, the sensor features a total area of 13.7 cm(2), a sweat-volume capacity of approximately 28 mu L, and it is suitable for monitoring sweating rate for more than 39 minutes. Design aspects are discussed using Finite-Element Method simulations, and analysis is provided regarding the influence on the sensor response of skin and structural materials variability. The sensor employs a simple capacitive transduction method, with a novel interleaved electrodes array configuration, which allows the sensor to be operable without calibration. Characterization shows the sensor operability under moderate bending conditions, hence showing to be a good candidate for wearable applications

Cost-effective smartphone-based reconfigurable electrochemical instrument for alcohol determination in whole blood samples

The determination of ethanol intoxication in whole blood samples may open the opportunity for a precise and quick point-of-measurement in the ambit of medical emergency or law enforcement. In contrast with traditional techniques based on breath sampling, direct blood measurements present greater immunity to errors specially in case of unconscious or non-collaborative patients. In this context, a portable, sensitive and easy-to-use instrument is highly desirable. In the current work we present a smartphone-based μPotentiostat which combines a novel circuital technique for sensor readout digitalization with a reusable lab-on-a-chip (LoC) concept. Such system allows both chronoamperometric and cyclic voltammetry measurements with a reduced number of electronic components on a very compact PCB (38.5 × 22.5 mm2). Power, data-link and user interface are provided in combination with a standard smartphone, enabling cost-effectiveness and reconfigurability without sacrificing precision. The readout platform discussed in this work has been coupled to a LoC for point-of-care combining Pt electrodes microfabricated on silicon substrate for electrochemical measurement and a microfluidic structure of methacrylate for fluid management. Biosensing is enabled by in situ electrodeposition of a calcium alginate hydrogel containing horseradish peroxidase (HPR) and alcohol oxidase (AOx) for selective ethanol detection. Alginate membrane electrodeposition has been here optimized for rapid generation (2 min) and to retain the cellular fraction, thus allowing the measurement in whole blood samples. The μPotentiostat features a sensitivity of 36 nA/g L−1 to ethanol concentration in blood in the 0–1.25 g;L−1 range, with a limit of quantification (LoQ) of 4.5 nA, which is a suitable response for discerning the legal, illegal, severely illegal thresholds in a 40 μL sample of blood

A 15-μW 105-dB 1.8-Vpp potentiostatic delta-sigma modulator for wearable electrochemical transducers in 65-nm CMOS technology

Wearable electrochemical sensors represent a point of convergence between lab-on-a-chip technologies, advanced microelectronics and connected intelligence. These three pillars establish data flow from analytes present in body fluids, to the Cloud infrastructures towards next-generation personal health-care and wellness. The design of electrode-embedded interfacing instrumentation in advanced CMOS technology nodes offer a number of challenges spanning from ultra-low power operation, small footprint, sufficient general purpose operability, and compatibility with advanced CMOS technology nodes. This paper presents a low-power frontend with extended amperometric dynamic range and wide potentiostatic range for electrochemical transducers with Delta-Sigma (Δ Σ) digital output. The second-order single-bit continuous-time Δ Σ modulator architecture reuses the electrochemical cell dynamic characteristics for quantization noise shaping, while the differential potentiostat enables 1.8Vpp of control range under single 1.2-V supply. The proposed frontend has been integrated in TSMC 65-nm CMOS technology occupying 0.07 mm2. From electrical and electrochemical tests, the micro potentiostat achieves a Signal-to-Distortion-and-Noise of 80dB with 15- μW power consumption and a combined multi-scale dynamic range of 105dB

PDMS-based, magnetically actuated variable optical attenuators obtained by soft lithography and inkjet printing technologies

This paper reports and compares the implementation of magnetic variable optical attenuators (M-VOA) by two fabrication strategies. In the first case, a two-layer structure containing a non-doped polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) layer on a magnetic PDMS (M-PDMS) layer is fabricated by soft lithography (SLT). M-PDMS is obtained by doping PDMS with different ferrofluid (FF) volumes. The second technology consists of selectively dispense FF microdroplets using the inkjet printing technique (UP) on a non-doped, non-cured PDMS structure, previously defined by SLT. In this second case, FF volumes are encapsulated inside the polymer matrix. The optical and mechanical properties of structures fabricated using both strategies and containing similar ferrofluid amounts are compared. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Polymeric variable optical attenuators based on magnetic sensitive stimuli materials

Magnetically-actuable, polymer-based variable optical attenuators (VOA) are presented in this paper. The design comprises a cantilever which also plays the role of a waveguide and the input/output alignment elements for simple alignment, yet still rendering an efficient coupling. Magnetic properties have been conferred to these micro-opto-electromechanical systems (MOEMS) by implementing two different strategies: in the first case, a magnetic sensitive stimuli material (M-SSM) is obtained by a combination of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and ferrofluid (FF) in ratios between 14.9 wt % and 29.9 wt %. An M-SSM strip under the waveguide-cantilever, defined with soft lithography (SLT), provides the required actuation capability. In the second case, specific volumes of FF are dispensed at the end of the cantilever tip (outside the waveguide) by means of inkjet printing (IJP), obtaining the required magnetic response while holding the optical transparency of the waveguide-cantilever. In the absence of a magnetic field, the waveguide-cantilever is aligned with the output fiber optics and thus the intrinsic optical losses can be obtained. Numerical simulations, validated experimentally, have shown that, for any cantilever length, the VOAs defined by IJP present lower intrinsic optical losses than their SLT counterparts. Under an applied magnetic field (B-app), both VOA configurations experience a misalignment between the waveguide-cantilever and the output fiber optics. Thus, the proposed VOAs modulate the output power as a function of the cantilever displacement, which is proportional to B-app. The experimental results for the three different waveguide-cantilever lengths and six different FF concentrations (three per technology) show maximum deflections of 220 mu m at 29.9 wt % of FF for VOA(SLT) and 250 mu m at 22.3 wt % FF for VOA(IJP), at 0.57 kG for both. These deflections provide maximum actuation losses of 16.1 dB and 18.9 dB for the VOA(SLT) and VOA(IJP), respectively

Ultrasensitive bacterial sensing using a disposable all-in-one amperometric platform with self-noise cancellation

The early detection of very low bacterial concentrations is key to minimize the healthcare and safety issues associated with microbial infections, food poisoning or water pollution. In amperometric integrated circuits for electrochemical sensors, flicker noise is still the main bottleneck to achieve ultrasensitive detection with small footprint, cost-effective and ultra-low power instrumentation. Current strategies rely on autozeroing or chopper stabilization causing negative impacts on chip size and power consumption. This work presents a 27-μW potentiostatic-amperometric Delta-Sigma modulator able to cancel its own flicker noise and provide a 4-fold improvement in the limit of detection. The 2.3-mm2 all-in-one CMOS integrated circuit is glued to an inkjet-printed electrochemical sensor. Measurements show that the limit of detection is 15 pArms, the extended dynamic range reaches 110 dB and linearity is R2 = 0.998. The disposable device is able to detect, in less than 1h, live bacterial concentrations as low as 102 CFU/mL from a 50-μL droplet sample, which is equivalent to 5 microorganisms

Carbapenem-Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii

OBJECTIVETo concomitantly determine the differential degrees of air and environmental contamination by Acinetobacter baumannii based on anatomic source of colonization and type of ICU layout (single-occupancy vs open layout).DESIGNLongitudinal prospective surveillance study of air and environmental surfaces in patient rooms.SETTINGA 1,500-bed public teaching hospital in Miami, Florida.PATIENTSConsecutive A. baumannii–colonized patients admitted to our ICUs between October 2013 and February 2014.METHODSAir and environmental surfaces of the rooms of A. baumannii–colonized patients were sampled daily for up to 10 days. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) was used to type and match the matching air, environmental, and clinical A. baumannii isolates.RESULTSA total of 25 A. baumannii–colonized patients were identified during the study period; 17 were colonized in the respiratory tract and 8 were colonized in the rectum. In rooms with rectally colonized patients, 38.3% of air samples were positive for A. baumannii; in rooms of patients with respiratory colonization, 13.1% of air samples were positive (P=.0001). In rooms with rectally colonized patients, 15.5% of environmental samples were positive for A. baumannii; in rooms of patients with respiratory colonization, 9.5% of environmental samples were positive (P=.02). The rates of air contamination in the open-layout and single-occupancy ICUs were 17.9% and 21.8%, respectively (P=.5). Environmental surfaces were positive in 9.5% of instances in open-layout ICUs versus 13.4% in single-occupancy ICUs (P=.09).CONCLUSIONSAir and environmental surface contaminations were significantly greater among rectally colonized patients; however, ICU layout did not influence the rate of contamination.Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2016;37:777–78

Reconfigurable multiplexed point of Care System for monitoring type 1 diabetes patients

At the point of care (POC), on-side clinical testing allows fast biomarkers determination even in resource-limited environments. Current POC systems rely on tests selective to a single analyte or complex multiplexed systems with important portability and performance limitations. Hence, there is a need for handheld POC devices enabling the detection of multiple analytes with accuracy and simplicity. Here we present a reconfigurable smartphone-interfaced electrochemical Lab-on-a-Chip (LoC)with two working electrodes for dual analyte determination enabling biomarkers' selection in situ and on-demand. Biomarkers selection was achieved by the use of electrodepositable alginate hydrogels. Alginate membranes containing either glucose oxidase (GOx)or lactate oxidase (LOx)were selectively electrodeposited on the surface of each working electrode in around 4 min, completing sample measurement in less than 1 min. Glucose and lactate determination was performed simultaneously and without cross-talk in buffer, fetal bovine serum (FBS)and whole blood samples, the latter being possible by the size-exclusion filtration capacity of the hydrogels. At optimal conditions, glucose and lactate were determined in a wide linear range (0–12 mM and 0–5 mM, respectively)and with high sensitivities (0.24 and 0.54 μA cm −2 mM −1 , respectively), which allowed monitoring of Type-1 diabetic patients with a simple dual analysis system. After the measurement, membranes were removed by disaggregation with the calcium-chelator phosphate buffer. At this point, new membranes could be electrodeposited, this time being selective to the same or another analyte. This conferred the system with on-demand biomarkers’ selection capacity. The versatility and flexibility of the current architecture is expected to impact in POC analysis in applications ranging from homecare to sanitary emergencies