Portable Interferometric Detection for Rapid Food Contaminant Testing
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Solution Overview
Problem
The rapid and efficient detection and quantification of biological and chemical contaminants in food processing environments is challenging due to the speed of movement in global supply chains, necessitating a need for rapid, efficient systems that provide qualitative and quantitative data.
Innovation Solution
A portable interferometric system with a portable housing, optical assembly, and a cartridge system containing an interferometric chip and flow cell wafer, capable of detecting and quantifying analytes using waveguide channels with sensitive layers, providing high-throughput analysis and real-time results.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If rapid testing is implemented throughout the food processing supply chain, then detection speed and productivity are improved, but system complexity and manufacturing difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system is divided into separate functional modules: a portable interferometric system for detection and a removable cartridge system containing the flow cell and waveguide channels. This segmentation allows the complex detection functionality to be concentrated in a dedicated device while the cartridges remain relatively simple disposable units, resolving the contradiction between rapid detection capability and overall system complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The cartridge system acts as an intermediary between the food sample and the portable interferometric system. The cartridge contains pre-prepared waveguide channels with sensing layers, serving as a mediator that simplifies the interaction between the user and the complex interferometric detection system while enabling rapid testing
2Reliability
If disposable cartridge systems are used, then cross-contamination is minimized and reliability is improved, but manufacturing complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The cartridge system is designed as a disposable component that is replaced after each use or after a limited number of uses. This eliminates the need for complex cleaning and sterilization procedures between tests, ensuring reliable prevention of cross-contamination while keeping individual cartridges simple and cost-effective to manufacture
Solution Approach 2:
The waveguide channels and sensing layers are pre-prepared and assembled within the cartridge during manufacturing, before the cartridge reaches the user. This preliminary preparation ensures that the complex sensing structures are already in place and properly configured, simplifying both manufacturing and ensuring reliability by preventing cross-contamination from the start
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system achieves rapid, precise, and accurate detection and quantification of analytes down to 1.0 picogram/L with sensitivity to 2 pixels per diffraction line pair, offering real-time qualitative and quantitative results within 30 minutes, and minimizing cross-contamination through disposable cartridges.
Implementation Method 1
interferometric chip including one or more waveguide channels having a sensing layer thereon
Implementation Method 2
one or more waveguide channels having a sensing layer thereon
Data Source
AI summary
A point of use analyte detection and quantification system for food or food processing applications is provided. Related methods are also provided.