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Abstract

A low-cost "artificial nose" is required to monitor inconvenience of elderly patients in nursing homes. With the aim of identifying a small array of inexpensive sensors whose response vector could provide an unambiguous signature at a useful sensitivity level, we characterized the sensitivity of seven easily available solid-state sensors to fecal component gases and vapors, and to potential interferences anticipated in the environment. The sensors' dynamic responses in a rapid periodic heating and cooling cycle proved substantially quieter than their DC responses at constant temperatures. However, large sensor-to-sensor variability combined with undesirably, high sensitivity to humidity proved so vexing that the practical prospects for this approach were deemed discouraging. An alternative approach using the differential response of a matched pairs of sensors, with one of the pair equipped with a filter that traps fecal component gases and vapors, is now under investigation.

Notes

Associated Center(s) / Consortia: Center for Integrated Manfacturing Decision Systems

Associated Lab(s) / Group(s): Intelligent Sensor, Measurement, and Control Lab

Text Reference

Huadong Wu and Mel Siegel, "Odor-based incontinence sensor," Proceedings of the 17th IEEE Instrumentation and Measurement Technology Conference, May, 2000, pp. 63 - 68.

BibTeX Reference

@inproceedings{Wu_2000_3565,
   author = "Huadong Wu and Mel Siegel",
   title = "Odor-based incontinence sensor",
   booktitle = "Proceedings of the 17th IEEE Instrumentation and Measurement Technology Conference",
   pages = "63 - 68",
   month = "May",
   year = "2000",
   volume = "1",
}

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