I-Corps: Thermopile-based Enzymatic Sugar Sensor Array (TESSA)

Suny At Albany, Albany NY

Investigators

Abstract

Sugar measurements in food and beverages represent very large national and global markets in agriculture, food and health industry and science. Recent developments of new industries such as precise agriculture, brewing of low carb beers and the production of reduced calorie food /beverages bring the demand for accurate, fast and low-cost measurements of total sugar content as well as sugar species in liquid solutions, agricultural produce and plants. To date, all available measurements of sugars in these industries are performed either by expensive laboratory analytical techniques or by somewhat less precise manual enzymatic kits and refractometry, which work only with liquid solutions. The proposed new device, the Thermopile-based Enzymatic Sugar Sensor Array (TESSA), will replace any of the above technologies. Furthermore, it can detect several sugars simultaneously with a single measurement with high precision and accuracy not only in liquids but in live plants and vegetables. The goal of this project is the creation of a calibration-free, proof of principle TESSA prototype to demonstrate to potential clients/investors the significant advantages of the proposed approach. To achieve this goal, the team will integrate the customer discovery process with engineering work on the device itself. Prototype sensors will be fabricated through the application of MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS) technology. Supporting this will be the development of several conceptual packaging designs reflecting the wide variety of potential applications such as agriculture, fitness and health and others and one or two of the designs will be fabricated with the use of the 3D printing. The exact design of packaging will, of course, depend on the application. In all cases, however, the team expects that its packaging will include remote access (e.g. via WiFi) to sensors for continuous monitoring of sugars in products and automatic logging of the information for possible sharing among other producers/customers or for preparation of automatic reports for product certification with relevant agencies.