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Tip
Sheet: Science & Technology Tip sheets highlight timely news and events at Washington University in St. Louis. For more information on any of the stories below or for assistance in arranging interviews, please see the contact information listed with each story. For comments on the Science & Technology news tips service, please contact the editor, Tony Fitzpatrick at (314) 935-5272 or tony_fitzpatrick@aismail.wustl.edu. Hand-held, portable DASI ("daisy") could be used by border patrol Media assistance: Tony Fitzpatrick - (314) 935-5272 Source: William Smith's Web page Related: Other applications for the DASI device Related: Economics and Statistics System search and links [St. Louis, Mo., September 2002] - Patented sensors called DASIs ("daisies") developed by an earth and planetary scientist at Washington University in St. Louis are now being tested to help safeguard the nation's supply of food and fiber commodities.
Smith is collaborating with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to employ a database that USDA is compiling that contains the specific light-absorbing and/or -emitting characteristics of bacteria from salmonella to anthrax. The database will become part of the sensing packages and serve as a way to make a quick identification of unhealthy food or contaminated fiber. Together, the sensors, data bases and signal retrieval algorithms can enable a quick identification of unhealthy food or contaminated fiber. "Molecules in bacteria, viruses and most toxins have strong spectral features in the UV and short wave infrared regions," said Smith. "The UV DASI detector is intended to provide the first response to the presence of biochemical hazards. The shortwave infrared DASI is intended to provide more sensitive differentiation among bacteria or other toxins present. This differentiation will be accomplished with the aid of algorithms under development by engineers here in the new Washington University Center for Securities Technologies. The DASI along with the USDA database is intended to make an exact identification of these hazards very quickly. Previously published research shows that it is possible not only to detect E.coli but to determine what strain of E.coli is present." Smith's Washington University collaborators are Daniel R. Fuhrmann, Ph.D., associate professor of electrical engineering; Joseph A. O'Sullivan, Ph.D., professor of electrical engineering; and Donald L. Snyder, Ph.D., Samuel C. Sachs Professor of Electrical Engineering. The researchers discussed their system, "Testbed for Protection of the Food Supply," with state and federal officials for homeland security during the First Science and Technology Conference held Aug. 7 and 8 at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. Organized by U.S. Senator Jean Carnahan, the conference focused on many different areas of national and statewide security. Earlier,on July 10, 2002, MEDECO, Inc., a small business that Smith founded in Missouri in 1995, was invited to the Small Business Exposition for Homeland Security, held in Washington. D.C., and co-sponsored by Senators Bond and Kerry, to demonstrate these sensors for applications in homeland security and food safety. The three electrical engineers have collaborated with Smith for more than five years on developing algorithms for DASI sensors. He originally built the sensors for NASA space and airborne projects for studies of solar system objects and for Earth environmental remote sensing. In the past two years, he began to develop their potential in screening agricultural products in collaboration with USDA. Hand-held and portable, the UV detector could also be attached to a robotic arm and used for meat or poultry processing quality control. It is partially intended to be employed by border guards sweeping incoming trucks from Canada and Mexico, or port authorities checking ships. According to Smith, approximately 6,000 trucks enter the United Sates each day, and 400 ships dock at the nation's ports and harbors daily. Presently there is no large-scale, uniform method of screening incoming goods to the United States. The UV package will consist of a DASI sensor, light source, camera, a screen, and a small hand-held computer that will use fast algorithms that will enable database searches of known contaminants and provide a signal if an unknown contaminant appears. The short wave infrared sensor also relies on the database in making the more detailed identification of the species found. "A sensor by itself is not very useful -- it has to rely on the data base and the algorithms that recognize spectral features of the various toxins," Smith explained. "The algorithms utilize the known characteristics of the different species and enable the sensors to recognize when something is not right in a sample." Fortunately, there are relatively few -- between 10 to 20 toxins -- that regulators are concerned about in food and agricultural products, Smith said. The sensor will not raise a flag when harmless bacteria are detected. Smith and his collaborators are part of the new Center for Security Technologies (CST), which addresses various threats to the nation's national security. More than 30 Washington University faculty are involved with the CST, which also collaborates with other universities and industries. The CST and USDA are developing a more formal research agreement in the near future. "Safeguarding the nation's security is a vertical integration problem," Smith said. "If we have sensors to measure the goods, an evolving data base and robust algorithms to extract the information, then we still have to find fast ways to share this information with interested parties such as first responders, medical personnel, border security and other personnel. It is probably not realistic to think we can prevent all accidents or intentional attacks, but we can work on developing a network that will short circuit them and keep them from spreading." |
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