Handheld lab on a chip to detect chemical warfare agents
Research Project
- Start Date:
- 4 August, 2009
- Project Status:
- Active
Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) researchers are testing a new generation hand-held device capable of detecting chemical and biological agents.
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- The new generation hand-held device capable of detecting chemical and biological agents. Photo courtesy of CSIRO.
The team is applying a recent grant awarded to the joint CSIRO-DSTO project through the Research Support for Counter-Terrorism program, from the National Security Science and Technology (NSST) Branch within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, to advance tests of the prototype’s accuracy in detecting chemical warfare agents.
DSTO is also providing high-level advice to NSST on chemical warfare agent detection, analysis and degradation, ensuring the device will deliver reliable readings quickly.
The ‘mulitplex lab on a chip’, developed by the CSIRO, incorporates a contact-less conductivity detector, a microchip-based capillary electrophoresis system and a miniaturised high voltage power supply.
Its developers are also incorporating a data acquisition board, micro-controller and a Personal Digital Assistant as a control interface. The chip is designed to be disposable or re-used and is considerably less expensive than earlier models.
Justin Doward, DSTO Analytical Chemist, says the device is being developed by CSIRO primarily for use by emergency first responders at sites where it is suspected that chemical agents may have been released.
“The fast, accurate and reliable identification of chemical agents on site would permit appropriate containment and control measures to be implemented rapidly, potentially preventing unnecessary injury or loss of life,” Doward says.
In future the device could also be applied to a wider range of threats including explosives, biological weapons, drugs and associated precursors.