Table of contents

This volume records the Proceedings of the sixteenth conference in the biennial Sensors and Their Applications series which took place at the Clarion Hotel, Cork, Ireland between 12–14 September 2011. The conference is organized by the Instrument Science and Technology Group of the Institute of Physics. On this occasion, the conference was hosted by Tyndall National Institute at University College Cork. This year the conference returns to Ireland, having last been held in Limerick in 2003.

The conference proceedings record the continuing growth of the sensors community nationally and internationally. The conferences bring together contributions from scientists and engineers from academia, research institutes and industrial establishments, and therefore provide an excellent opportunity for these communities to present and discuss the latest results in the field of sensors, instrumentation and measurement.

Amongst the more traditional themes, such as optical sensing, there is growth in new areas such as biomedical sensing and instrumentation, and nanosensing, which is reflected in this volume. Similarly the contribution of modelling and simulation techniques in sensor and instrumentation design and their applications is acknowledged by a session in this area. The sessions across the conference are supported by notable contributions from invited speakers.

We would like to thank all of our colleagues in the sensor and instrumentation community who have supported this event by contributing manuscripts. Our thanks also go to Tyndall National Institute for hosting this conference and all the sponsors who, with their generous financial and in-kind contributions, enabled the better organization of this conference. We would also like to thank all the members of the Instrument Science and Technology Group for their support, and in particular for refereeing the submitted manuscripts. We are also pleased to express our thanks to the Conference Department of the Institute of Physics for their invaluable support in organising this event. We are especially grateful to Dawn Stewart for her responsive and efficient day-to-day handling of this event, as well as to Claire Garland for her planning and management of this event.

We hope that the conference authors, participants and a wider audience will find these proceedings to be of interest and to serve as a useful reference text.

Panicos KyriacouConference ChairmanAlan O'RiordanConference Local Chairman

All papers published in this volume of Journal of Physics: Conference Series have been peer reviewed through processes administered by the proceedings Editors. Reviews were conducted by expert referees to the professional and scientific standards expected of a proceedings journal published by IOP Publishing.

The convergence of electrochemistry, materials, photonics and biomedical science at the nanoscale opens up significant opportunities for developing advanced sensors. In this contribution, we present examples of our use of nanometer dimensioned electrodes, nanocavities and nanoparticle-metallopolymer composites to create high sensitivity detection platforms and materials for detecting proteins and nucleic acids. The application of these approaches in the diagnosis and prognosis of cancers such as neuroblastoma, as well as point-of-care detection of infectious disease, will be discussed.

As the biosensor industry continues to mature many of the big breakthroughs in analysis performance will not come from huge advances in detection, but from the tangential technologies. One of these technologies is sample delivery. It is now clearly understood that the way samples are presented to the sensing surface(s) significantly impacts the performance and applicability of analytical biosensors. There is also the ever present desire to simultaneously analyze as many samples as possible. A sample delivery system that provides high throughput, high performance, and flexibility, could dramatically change the use of analytical biosensors. This presentation will focus on a new form of microfluidic sample delivery called Hydrodynamic Isolation (HI). Through a combination of hydrodynamic focusing and location specific sample delivery and evacuation, HI can simultaneously deliver different sample solutions to each sensing location on any two-dimensional detection array. Even in an open array the different solution streams are completely independent, are delivered as very discrete volumes, and a single solution can be addressed to one or more sensor locations. HI eliminates the need for mechanical micro-valves close to the detection chamber, making it simple to build and multiplex. By enabling full flexibility in sample delivery across 2-D arrays, HI has the potential to greatly improve analysis throughput but it will also have a big impact on assay design and development times. The use of HI in an array based real-time label-free analysis platform will be presented.

Automotive systems have evolved extensively over the past 50 years, providing a fully integrated system of sub-systems that work in concert for optimal vehicle level closed loop control. In this talk we look at several automotive sub-systems: stability and control, safety and security, emissions and comfort, diagnostics and maintenance, infotainment and communications; with an eye toward understanding their technology drivers and associated value propositions. Conversely, we examine how commercial building systems currently are represented as a collection of sub-systems that often work independently of each other for local optimization, often relying upon open loop control systems developed and installed decades ago. Reasoning primarily by analogy we explore opportunities for energy and efficiency, comfort and environment, and safety/security; asking whether there is sufficient value associated with a new class of building sensors and how those technologies might be brought to bear in improving performance. Finally, we examine the fundamental architecture of detection systems built upon sensing elements, with the aim of understanding trade-offs between: detection, false alarm rate, power, and cost.

Nanowire based electrochemical devices represent a new and emerging class of sensors. In this work, we fabricate gold nanowires with well controlled critical dimensions using hybrid-electron beam lithography. Individual nanowire electrodes are routinely fabricated and are easily electrically contacted using overlay electrodes. Following fabrication, nanowire device performance is assessed using both electrical and electrochemical characterization techniques. We observe low electrical resistances (∼ 900 Ω) with typical linear Ohmic responses from fully packaged nanowire devices. Steady-state cyclic voltammograms in ferrocenemonocarboxylic acid demonstrate scan rate independence up to 1000 mV s⁻¹ with low interfacial capacitance. The applicability of these nanowire electrodes for sensing was explored using square wave voltammetry.

In this work plasmonic nanostructures in the form of free standing films of sub-wavelength holes are fabricated and characterised using a variety of methods. It is shown how the light transmitted through a nanohole array is altered by the dielectric constant of the medium above the array facilitating the development of new types of plasmonic and photonic devices for future bio-sensing applications.

In this paper, we study the polarisation properties of light transmitted through an array of elliptical nanoholes patterned in a thin gold film. The light transmitted through the sample strongly depends on the polarization of the excitation light and shows two distinct peaks, separated by 65 nm. These peaks are related to Rayleigh-Woods anomaly on the Au/glass interface. This type of devices has tremendous potential as micrometer size optical filter set for fluorescent-labelled assays.

Tensiography is a technique that determines the physical and chemical properties of a liquid by illuminating a growing pendant drop from within using a source fibre. Light reflected internally at the surface of the drop is recieved by a collector fibre and is converted into an electric signal called a tensiotrace, which is a graph of reflected light as a function of drop volume. The instrument obtaining this signal is called multianalyser. A numerical model that simulates tensiotraces through a raytracing analysis (RAST - Raytracing Analysis for the Simulation of Tensiotraces) of the multianalyser as been developed to define theoretically how the tensiotrace describes the physical and chemical properties of a liquid. The purpose of this study is to investigate the model as an engineering/design assistant leading to discoveries and improvements to the multianalyser.

A chemical receptor specific to traces of organophosphorus nerve agents (OPs) has been synthesized and grafted to carbon nanotubes and silicon nanowires in order to make electrical sensors. Our results show that it is possible to detect efficiently sub-ppm traces of OPs with excellent selectivity notably with the use of silicon nanowires by monitoring the Drain-Source current of the SiNW-FET at an optimum back Gate voltage as a function of time. First developments of a prototype have also been realized.

Alternate energy technologies are developing rapidly in the recent years. A significant part of this trend is the development of different phase change materials (PCMs). Proper utilization of PCMs requires accurate thermal characterization. There are several methodologies used in this field. This paper stresses the importance of accurate temperature measurements during the implementation of T-history method. Since the temperature sensor size is also important thermistors have been selected as the sensing modality. Two thermistor linearization techniques, one based on Wheatstone bridge and the other based on simple serial-parallel resistor connection, are compared in terms of achievable temperature accuracy through consideration of both, nonlinearity and self-heating errors. Proper calibration was performed before T-history measurement of RT21 (RUBITHERM® GmbH) PCM. Measurement results suggest that the utilization of serial-parallel resistor connection gives better accuracy (less than ±0.1°C) in comparison with the Wheatstone bridge based configuration (up to ±1.5°C).

We report on a novel data reduction technique that uses the fast, low-noise operation of EMCCD's to provide improvements in ground-based astronomical photometry of up to 48% by removing much of the incoherent wavelength-dependent absorption of the atmosphere. The technique has significant application potential in multicolour photometry where inter-colour short-timescale variability are particularly prone to atmospheric effects. We comment on a two-colour photometer we have developed to take advantage of the technique.

Proposals for a review of the limits of measurement for telecommunications are made. The measures are based on adapting work from the area of chemical metrology for the field of telecommunications. Currie has introduced recommendations for defining the limits of measurement in chemical metrology and has identified three key fundamental limits of measurement. These are the critical level, the detection limit and the determination limit. Measurements on an optical system are used to illustrate the utility of these measures and discussion is given into the advantages of using these fundamental quantitations over existing methods.

We discuss some novel technologies that enable the implementation of shearing interferometry at the terahertz part of the spectrum. Possible applications include the direct measurement of lens parameters, the measurement of refractive index of materials that are transparent to terahertz frequencies, determination of homogeneity of samples, measurement of optical distortions and the non-contact evaluation of thermal expansion coefficient of materials buried inside media that are opaque to optical or infrared frequencies but transparent to THz frequencies. The introduction of a shear to a Gaussian free-space propagating terahertz beam in a controlled manner also makes possible a range of new encoding and optical signal processing modalities.

The approach to the theory of sessile dropshapes held on a cylindrical drophead is discussed. It reveals an 'undifferentiable' universal micro-dropshape for volumes below 3μL. Camera studies demonstrate the veracity of this prediction exploited in the design of a new microvolume spectrometer. The mean pathlength of light injected through a microvolume sessile drop has been determined both from the model and from experiment. Drop volumes determine accurately the mean pathlength and with this Beer's law relationship is experimentally confirmed. The Transmitted Light Drop Analyser uses this universal 'natural cuvette' to deliver both high-performance UV spectra and absorbance measurements at discrete wavelengths.

Impaired endothelial function (EF) is associated with atherogenesis, and its quantitative assessment has prognostic value. Currently, methods based on assessing flow-mediated dilation (FMD) are technically difficult and expensive. We tested a novel way of assessing EF by measuring the time difference between pulses arriving at the middle fingers of each hand (f-fΔT), whilst FMD is induced in one arm. We compared f-fΔT with standard methods in healthy and diseased subjects. Our findings suggest that the proposed simple and inexpensive technique gives comparable results and has the potential to qualitatively assess EF in the clinical setting, although further work is required.

This paper presents an investigation of optimal parameters for finite element (FE) solution of the forward problem in magnetic field tomography (MFT) brain imaging based on magnetoencephalography (MEG). It highlights detailed analyses of the main parameters involved and evaluates their optimal values for various cases of FE model solutions (e.g., steady-state, transient, etc.). In each case, a detail study of some of the main parameters and their effects on FE solution and its accuracy are carefully tested and evaluated. These parameters include: total number and size of 3D FE elements used, number and size of elements used in surface discretisation (of both white and grey matters of the brain), number and size of elements used for approximation of current sources, number of anisotropic properties used in steady-state and transient solutions, and the time steps used in transient analyses. The optimal values of these parameters in relation to solution accuracy and mesh convergence criteria have been found and presented.

Sensors for recording photoplethysmographic signals from the nervous tissue of the spinal cord are described. The purpose of these sensors is to establish whether perfusion is compromised in various states of injury which occur in certain animal models of spinal cord injury, for example compression injury. Various measures of perfusion are applicable such as the amplitude of the photoplethysmograph signal and the oxygen saturation, measured using a dual wavelength configuration. Signals are usually compared to baseline measurements made in uninjured subjects. This paper describes two types of probe, one based on optical fibres, and one in which optotes are placed in direct contact with the tissue surface. Results from a study based on a compression model utilising a fibreoptic sensor are presented.

This research involves the use of a low power microwave sensor for analysis of lactic acid in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), an indicator of neurological impairment during aortic aneurysm surgery which could provide the basis for improved treatment regimes and better quality of care with more efficient use of resources. This paper presents initial work using standard lactate curves in water followed by lactate in "synthetic CSF". A multi-modal spectral signature has been defined for lactate, forming the basis for subsequent development of microwave sensor platform that is able to detect concentrations of lactic acid in CSF of volumes less than 1ml.

In this study oesophageal photoplethysmograph data from eight patients under positive pressure ventilation were analysed in order to test the hypothesis that the modulations created by the ventilation in the AC Photoplethysmograph (PPG) signal could be used to estimate venous oxygen saturation. In order to estimate the instantaneous arterial and venous oxygen saturation Smoothed-pseudo Wigner-Ville Distribution (SPWVD) was utilised. The result from this study showed that there was no significant different in the conventional (time domain) arterial saturation and the instantaneous arterial saturation. However, the instantaneous venous oxygen saturation estimated with the ventilator modulation were significantly lower then the conventional arterial saturation (P = 0.008) and also from the instantaneous arterial saturation (P = 0.008).

In this paper, we propose a new and simple NiO-based Chlorobenzene vapor optical waveguide (OWG) sensor. The highly sensitive element of this sensor was made by coating the nickel oxide film over a single-mode potassium ion (K⁺) exchanged glass OWG. Sensitivity of the NiO film composite OWG sensor was estimated by the change of absorption properties of the film. The sensor has a linear response to Chlorobenzene concentration, and sensitivity up to 1.8ppm. Moreover, it shows a satisfactory repeatability and a low sensitivity to common interfering gases such as benzene, toluene, xylene and ethanol vapors.

Alkylating agents are reactive molecules having at least one polar bond between a carbon atom and a good leaving group. These often simple molecules are frequently used in organic synthesis, as sterilizing agents in agriculture and even as anticancer agents in medicine. Unfortunately, for over a century, some of the highly reactive alkylating agents are also being used as blister chemical warfare agents. Being relatively simple to make, the risk is that these will be applied by terrorists as poor people warfare agents. The detection and identification of such alkylating agents is not a simple task because of their high reactivity and simple structure of the reactive site. Here we report on new approaches to the detection and identification of such alkylating agents using electrical (organic field effect transistors) and mechanical (microcantilevers) means.

There are currently no point-of-care diagnosis strategies available to indicate the presence of neoplasmic growth. This research aims to develop a novel diagnostic strategy based on detecting TAG accumulation in cells. This element of the research is a preliminary experiment to prove the concept of detecting TAG lipid droplets in YEPD media. It was found that a change in mono-unsaturated concentration can be detected by the frequency shift in a resonant cavity. The dielectric constant of TAG vegetable oils was calculated at 2.34-2.39. It was also found that concentrations of lipid droplet can be differentiated up to 5% (v/v).

Over the last decade microelectronic technologies have delivered significant advances in devices for point of care diagnostics. Complex microfluidic systems integrate components such as valves, pumps etc. to manipulate liquids. In recent years, the drive is to combine biochemical protocols in a single system, delivering "sample in answer out". An Electrowetting on Dielectric (EWOD) device offers the possibility to move and manipulate 64nl volumes implementing biochemical processes, while the magnetic sensor facilitates hybridisation detection. We outline an injection molding approach where EWOD and magnetic devices are integrated into a hybrid microfluidic system with the potential to implement "sample in answer out" biological protocols.

An amperometric immunosensor with low limit detection was developed for the screening of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in water. The system was based on detecting the specific substance using an immunological reaction by measuring the chemical responses to specific antibodies. An integrated biochip with a three electrode system was fabricated. Gold was used as the working electrode with platinum was used as the counter electrode. A modified Ag/AgCl reference electrode was employed to enhance the stability of the immunosensors. Indirect competition enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was carried out within the electrode using alkaline phosphatase (AP) as the labelled-enzyme. The system shows acceptable reproducibility and good stability. The immunosensor exhibited a wide linear response to PAHs. A limit of detection for this sensor was in the range of 1 to 10 ng ml⁻¹ in aqueous sample.

The contamination of sea waters by pollutants is a subject of growing public concern. The existing monitoring process is costing an estimated 350 million Euros/year in the EU. Most of the detection methods are laboratory-based, which require extensive sample preparation prior to analysis and, hence are not suitable for on-site analysis. Here a multi-sensor system is described for eventual deployment in a port. The system can provide an accurate assessment of the water quality through monitoring a variety of different parameters. Copper detection, conductivity measurements and redox potential measurements are described, and the stability of each sensor in artificial seawater is estimated.

A microwave plasma gasifier has been designed to produce syngas from waste. Gasification using microwave plasma has various controllable parameters to achieve optimal syngas production. These parameters include the microwave power applied, the reflected power from the microwave plasma jet, the EH tuner arm position, the gas flow and pressure, in addition to the temperature inside the gasifier. A variety of sensors are required to provide feedback and control for each of these parameters. This paper discusses the benefits of gasification, particularly via microwave plasma techniques, the first steps toward the optimisation of such a system and some preliminary results of this optimisation.

The process behind Dead Reckoning (DR) is simple in that a robot can know its current location via a record of its starting position, direction and speed without the need to look for landmarks or follow lines. This process allows a robot to drive around a known environment such as indoors and heavy urban areas where traditional GPS navigation would not be an option. Discussed in this paper is an improvement of a previously designed DR mechanism in DSP Builder where now the user enters the DR measurements and commands as a sequence via a keypad. This replaces the need for user to programme the details into the system by altering numerous value tags within the design one-by-one, thus making it more user-independent and easier to alter for different environments. The paper shows updated simulations for repeatability, how the keypad links to the system and where this work will lead.

This paper presents a novel sensor design and packaging, specifically developed to allow fibre grating-based sensors to be used in harsh, in-the-field measurement conditions for accurate strain measurement, with full temperature compensation. After these sensors are carefully packaged and calibrated in the laboratory, they are installed onto the paragrid of a set of flat-packed concrete units, created specifically for forming a small-scale, lightweight and inexpensive flexi-arch bridge. During the arch-bridge lifting process, the sensors are used for real-time strain measurements to ensure the quality of the construction. During the work done, the sensors have demonstrated enhanced resilience when embedded in concrete structures, providing accurate and consistent strain measurements during the whole installation process and beyond into monitoring the integrity and use of the structure.

The trend towards smart building and modern manufacturing demands ubiquitous sensing in the foreseeable future. Self-powered Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are essential for such applications. This paper describes bulk material based thermoelectric generator (TEG) design and implementation for WSN. A 20cm² Bi_0.5Sb_1.5Te₃ based TEG was created with optimized configuration and generates 2.7mW in typical condition. A novel load matching method is used to maximize the power output. The implemented power management module delivers 651μW to WSN in 50 °C. With average power consumption of Tyndall WSN measured at 72μW, feasibility of utilizing bulk material TEG to power WSN is demonstrated.

In this study, the concept design for the improvement of the bacterial detection sensitivity of the DEPIM (Dielectrophoretic Impedance Measurement) method has been proposed. The cells in the micro-chamber are repelled and concentrated by n-DEP (negative dielectrophosesis). The concentrated cells are captured by p-DEP (positive DEP) and detected by measuring the change in the electrical impedance. The numerical simulations and the preliminary test were performed to investigate the effectiveness of the n-DEP concentration. When n-DEP concentration was employed, the increase in the rate of the conductance became approximately two times higher than that obtained without n-DEP.

In this work, a novel method for the formation of Electrical Capacitance Tomography (ECT) images is presented. This method is based on the modification of the classical algebraic superposition of sensitivity maps, weighted with the inter-electrode capacitance measurements, which is the basis of most of the existing image reconstruction algorithms. The proposed approach replaces this superposition with the scalar multiplication of partial images generated considering only the data corresponding to fixed source electrodes. Results obtained with this proposed method show that the quality of the images can be improved without any image post-processing, which is very interesting especially for real-time applications.

Millimeterwaves and terahertz sensors can cover a broad field of applications ranging from production control to security scanners. The outstanding features are the transparency of many materials like textiles, paper and plastics in this frequency region, the good contrast of any humid or dense dielectric material and the capability to employ miniaturized RF systems and small antenna apertures or dielectric probes. A stand-alone-millimetre-wave-imager, SAMMY, was developed and built, to demonstrate the outstanding features of this part of the electromagnetic spectrum for material inspection.

An ultra high input impedance sensor is used to monitor the electric field above a sample of carbon composite. The working distance, spatial resolution and diameter of the sense electrode are all of the order of 50 um. The sample is excited with an a.c. current over a range of frequencies up to 11 MHz. The resultant potential gradient gives rise to the electric field near the surface of the sample. Results are presented for different excitation frequencies showing the internal structure of the composite material. A gradient subtraction technique is used to enhance the variations in local conductivity.

The testing of a new microvolume spectrometer instrument, the Transmitted Light Drop Analyser (TLDA) is based on drop physics. The advantages, benefits and features of this spectroscopic accessory are elucidated for the first time. The performance of the instrument with regard to drop evaporation, carry-over, calibration standards, photometric accuracy and photometric reproducibility are presented. The paper ends with a brief discussion on the practical significance of the test programme taken as a whole.

The Reference Materials (DTRM-2SG & DTRM-4SG) for validation of the absorbance scale for a Transmitted Light Drop Analyser (TLDA) have been developed specifically for microvolume spectroscopy. The approach to the calibration of photometric accuracy and reproducibility is briefly illustrated. These materials can be used also for wavelength checks. The study addresses however a wider range of issues for microvolume spectroscopy quality assurance. This study concludes with a general discussion of this quality programme on the important practical and philosophical issues needed for drop science quality systems.

A portable instrument that measures heavy metal concentration from a colorimetric sensor array is presented. The use of eight sensing membranes, placed on a plastic support, allows to obtain the hue component of the HSV colour space of each one in order to determinate the concentration of metals present in a solution. The developed microcontroller-based system captures, in an ambient light environment, an image of the sensor array using an integrated micro-camera and shows the picture in a touch micro-LCD screen which acts as user interface. After image-processing of the regions of interest selected by the user, colour and concentration information are displayed on the screen.

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) combine sensors with computer networks and enable very dense, in-situ and live measurements of data over a large area. Since this emerging technology has the potential to be embedded almost everywhere for numberless applications, interference between different networks can become a serious issue. For most WSNs, it is assumed today that the network medium access is non-competitive. On the basis of X-MAC interfered by Low Power Probing, this paper shows the danger and the effects of different sensor networks communicating on a single wireless channel of the 2.4 GHz band, which is used by the IEEE 802.15.4 standard.

A novel system to unobtrusively monitor the wellbeing of elderly people based on their activity patterns is presented. The system uses a wireless ZigBee network to monitor the electrical usage in a subject's home and then sends this data to an Apache server via HTTP from a GPRS unit. The data is logged in a MySQL database where pattern analysis is used to identify periods of significant inactivity. When such an event is identified designated contacts are notified by text message. For subjects requiring higher levels of monitoring a portable health monitor can be integrated incorporating a fall detector and panic button to inform of emergency situations.

Controllers for feedback substitution schemes demonstrate a trade-off between noise power gain and normalized response time. Using as an example the design of a controller for a radiometric transduction process subjected to arbitrary noise power gain and robustness constraints, a Pareto-front of optimal controller solutions fulfilling a range of time-domain design objectives can be derived. In this work, we consider designs using a loop shaping design procedure (LSDP). The approach uses linear matrix inequalities to specify a range of objectives and a genetic algorithm (GA) to perform a multi-objective optimization for the controller weights (MOGA). A clonal selection algorithm is used to further provide a directed search of the GA towards the Pareto front. We demonstrate that with the proposed methodology, it is possible to design higher order controllers with superior performance in terms of response time, noise power gain and robustness.

This paper presents the continuation of work conducted jointly between Dstl and LJMU. This unique body of work has been, largely, concerned with detecting the residual life of high performance filter materials using electromagnetic (EM) waves within a resonant cavity. Past work has considered both HEPA [1] and ASZM-TEDA[2] activated carbon filter materials. This paper continues the later work, considering the response of ASZM-TEDA activated carbon through the co-ageing of two distinct batches of the material. The paper briefly introduces activated carbon, discusses theory relevant to the work and the methodology used for investigation. A comprehensive set of results is included which seek to validate this technique for determining the residual lifespan of activated carbon.

Biodiesel, an alternative diesel fuel made from a renewable source, is produced by the transesterification of vegetable oil or fat with methanol or ethanol. In order to control and monitor the progress of this chemical reaction with complex and highly nonlinear dynamics, the controller must be able to overcome the challenges due to the difficulty in obtaining a mathematical model, as there are many uncertain factors and disturbances during the actual operation of biodiesel reactors. Classical controllers show significant difficulties when trying to control the system automatically. In this paper we propose a comparison of artificial intelligent controllers, Fuzzy logic and Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System(ANFIS) for real time control of a novel advanced biodiesel microwave reactor for biodiesel production from waste cooking oil. Fuzzy logic can incorporate expert human judgment to define the system variables and their relationships which cannot be defined by mathematical relationships. The Neuro-fuzzy system consists of components of a fuzzy system except that computations at each stage are performed by a layer of hidden neurons and the neural network's learning capability is provided to enhance the system knowledge. The controllers are used to automatically and continuously adjust the applied power supplied to the microwave reactor under different perturbations. A Labview based software tool will be presented that is used for measurement and control of the full system, with real time monitoring.

A real-time non intrusive microwave sensor system able to monitor the nutrients found in wastewater has been designed, simulated and implemented. These liquids are continuously flowing through a PTFE pipe and the properties of these liquids gradually degraded in time. Microwaves have the ability to give real-time changes in any material permittivity by means of changing the velocity of the signal, attenuating or reflecting it. The primarily measurements show promising results for future sensor developments which lead to a novel system that can be used in wastewater treatment plants.

Currently there are about 4300 weld points on the average steel vehicle. Errors and problems due to tip damage and wear can cause great losses due to production line downtime. Current industrial monitoring systems check the quality of the nugget after processing 15 cars average once every two weeks. The nuggets are examined off line using a destructive process, which takes approximately 10 days to complete causing a long delay in the production process. In this paper a simulation results using software package, SORPAS, will be presented to determined the sustainability factors in spot welding process including Voltage, Current, Force, Water cooling rates, Material thicknesses and usage. The experimental results of various spot welding processes will be investigated and reported. The correlation of experimental results shows that SORPAS simulations can be used as an off line measurement to reduce factory energy usage. This paper also provides an overview of electrode current selection and its variance over the lifetime of the electrode tip, and describes the proposed analysis system for the selection of welding parameters for the spot welding process, as the electrode tip wears.

This study provides experimental testing of a ray-tracing model of the tensiotrace that explores the measurement potential of a well-defined optical position in the tensiotrace signal known as the 'commencement'. This point is defined as the first measureable optical coupling in the fiber drophead between source and collector fibers for light injected inside a growing drop. Tensiotrace ray-tracing model is briefly introduced. Empirical relationships of commencement measures from a wide-ranging study are presented. A number of conclusions can be drawn from the successful linking of computer predictions to these experimental relationships.

An ultraspeed (5000 frames a second) camera has been used to record the drop separating from the photometric instrument the tensiograph. New insights into drop separation processes which have been evaluated in terms of the correction factors used in tensiometric methods for measuring surface tension. An innovative approach to drop separation process drop satellite labelling is proposed and the paper ends with suggestions as to practical improvements to the photometric measurement of what is a very long-established method.

The TLDA (transmitted light drop analyser) is a new microvolume UV-visible drop spectrophotometer new to the market. Assays were compared between a TLDA, NanoDrop and the Qubit system which is based on the gold standard for DNA assay, PicoGreen. The evaluation was carried out by the Trinity Biobank in St. James Hospital, Dublin on Buccal swabs and Blood samples. The data is discussed in this paper. The Qubit system is seen as the reference method in most studies as this is believed to provide more accurate results than UV absorbance methods because it distinguishes between DNA, RNA, free nucleotides, and other contaminants. The Qubit system uses fluorescent dyes to measure the concentration of the molecule of interest. The results compare both the spectrophotometric methods against the Qubit fluorescence technique.

This paper presents a technique for detecting and monitoring flares in harsh industrial environments with the use of an imaging sensor combined with digital image processing. Flare images are captured via an imaging fibre and analysed to detect the flare's presence and region of interest. The flare characteristics are then determined using various image processing algorithms. A prototype system is designed, constructed and evaluated on a purpose built laboratory scale flare test rig. Results indicate that the imaging based technique has potential for the detection, monitoring and analysis of flares amidst various background conditions in the chemical and oil industries for plant safety, pollution prevention and control.

When performing image operations involving Structuring Element (SE) and many transforms it is required that the outside of the image be padded with zeros or ones depending on the operation. This paper details how this can be achieved with simulated hardware using DSP Builder in Matlab with the intention of migrating the design to HDL (Hardware Description Language) and implemented on an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array). The design takes few resources and does not require extra memory to account for the change in size of the output image.

In this work, two of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR)-based optical fibre sensors have been successfully developed and cross-compared. With one SPR sensor being coated with a thin layer of gold film and the other gold-nanorods (GNRs), forming a LSPR sensor, both sensors are subjected to various refractive index changes. As a result their sensitivities are measured in the form of resonance wavelength shift as a function of refractive index variation. The results demonstrate that the thin-film coated SPR sensor has much higher sensitivity than that of GNRs coated LSPR sensor but with worse linearity.

Anisotropic 1-D metal nanostructures are attractive building block for future optoelectronic nanoscale devices and systems. However, a critical challenge remains the lack of manipulation methods that enable controlled positioning and orientation of metal nanostructures in a fast, reliable and scalable manner. To address this challenge, we explore dielectrophoretic based assembly of discrete gold nanorods and demonstrate site selective assembly and orientation of these rods. The demonstrated optical sensitivity of such large order nanostructures to the local environment opens the way to development of nanoscale sensing devices.

This paper describes the fabrication of microelectrode arrays, with two different geometries: disc (Designs d1 and d2) and band (Designs b1, b2 and b3) using three critical dimensions (100 nm, 1 μm and 10 μm) leading to 5 different designs, fabricated by the combination of UV photolithographic and e-beam lithographic techniques. Three silicon nitride layer thicknesses (200, 300 and 500 nm) were chosen to determine an optimized transducer design and fabrication process. Cyclic voltammetry characterisation using a simple redox probe ion, ferreocenecarboxylic acid in phosphate buffered saline electrolyte solution, demonstrated steady-state voltammetric curves for d1, d2, b1 and b2. A good agreement between experimental and theoretical data is found for devices d1, d2, b1 and b2. The experimental current for b3, on the other hand, is much lower compared to the calculated one- perhaps due to the overlapping of the diffusion layers of neighbouring microelectrodes in the array.

The development of industry and automotive trafic produces Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) whose toxicity can affect seriously human health and environment. The level of those contaminants in air must be as low as possible. In this context, there is a need for in situ systems that could monitor selectively the concentration of these compounds. The aim of this study is to demonstrate the efficiency of a system build with a pre-concentrator, a chromatographic micro-column and a tin oxide-based gas sensor for the selective and sensitive detection of atmospheric pollutants. In particular, this study is focused on the selective detection of benzene and 1,3 butadiene.

Hybrid SnO₂/SWNTs thin layer were deposited by using sol-gel process. Such sensitive layers showed very high performances for O₃ flow detection at ambient temperature. Limit sensitivity, lower than 21,5 ppb of O₃ in air has been reached by using these hybrid layers. Compared to usefull metal oxide sensors, the main advantage of the use of such hybrid layers, is that these devices enable the detection of O₃ traces at room temperature. The influence of sensor's working temperature is discussed and finally a reactional mechanism for the detection of O₃ is proposed.

We report here the electrochemical sensing of macromolecules, such as polyLysine dendrimers, at the polarised liquid | liquid interface. Electrochemistry at the liquid | liquid interface is a powerful analytical technique which allows the detection of non-redox active molecules via ion transfer reactions at a polarised water – oil interface. We demonstrate here that different parameters of the polyLysine dendrimers (charge number, molecular weight) have a strong influence on the sensitivity and limit of detection of these macromolecules. This work will help to the development of sensors based on charge transfer at the liquid | liquid interface.

This paper describes a new low-cost, low-noise displacement current sensor developed for non-contact measurements of human biopotentials and well suited for detection of human presence applications. The sensor employs a simple, improvised transimpedance amplifier that eliminates the need for ultra high values resistors normally needed in current amplifiers required for this type of measurements. The sensor provides an operational bandwidth of 0.5 – 250 Hz, and a noise level of 7.8μV√Hz at 1 Hz down to 30nV/√Hz at 1 kHz. Reported experimental results demonstrate the sensor's capability in measuring heart related biopotentials within 0.5m off-body distance, and muscle related biopotentials within 10m no obstacles off-body distance, and 5m off-body distance with a concrete wall in between.

This paper describes a non-dispersive infra-red CO₂ gas sensor, incorporating a mid-infra-red solid state light source/ detector combination, tuned to match the spectral absorption characteristic of CO₂ gas. Injection moulded optics provide low cost manufacture. Continuous operation power consumption is < 3.5mW and pulsed mode with energy per measurement < 6mJ. Self powered operation using a solar cell is demonstrated together with wireless capability. Performance of two path length variants (20mm and 70mm) is described. The sensor shows invariant temperature output characteristic from -25 to 50°C. Accuracy level is typically ±3% of reading.

An optical fibre sensor for the monitoring of low level atmospheric ammonia concentrations is presented. The measuring technique employed is based on a differential optical absorption approach, rather than a semiconductor based technique which is generally exploited within comparable commercially available products. The sensor described herein demonstrates vast improvements in terms of sensitivity, selectivity and lifespan over ammonia sensors currently available commercially. Extensive laboratory-based experimental tests demonstrate the sensor's ability to monitor concentrations as low as 1ppm without any notable cross-sensitivity issues to atmospheric gases such as nitrogen, oxygen and carbon dioxide. Furthermore, in-situ experimental tests within an agricultural cattle enclosure demonstrate sensor's suitability to environments where low concentration monitoring of ammonia over extended periods of time is necessary.

Capillary electrophoresis is a technique for the separation and analysis of chemical compounds. Techniques adopted from the microchip technology knowledge have led to recent developments of electrophoresis system with integration on microchip. Microchip Capillary Electrophoresis (μCE) systems offer a series of advantages as easy integration for Lab-on-a-chip applications, high performance, portability, speed, minimal solvent and sample requirements. A new technological challenge aims at the development of an economic modular microchip capillary electrophoresis systems using separable and independent units concerning the sensor. In this project we worked on the development of an interchangeable amperometric sensor in order to provide a solution to such electrode passivation and facilitating the use of tailored sensors for specific analyte detection besides. Fluidic chips have been machined from cyclic olefin polymer pallets (Zeonor^®) using a micro-injection molding machine.

The objective of this paper is to examine the Pulse Transit Method (PTT) as a non-invasive means to track Blood Pressure over a short period of time. PTT was measured as the time it takes for an ECG R-wave to propagate to the finger, where it is detected by a photoplethysmograph sensor. The PTT method is ideal for continuous 24-hour Blood Pressure Measurement (BPM) since it is both cuff-less and non-invasive and therefore comfortable and unobtrusive for the patient. Other techniques, such as the oscillometric method, have shown to be accurate and reliable but require a cuff for operation, making them unsuitable for long term monitoring. Although a relatively new technique, the PTT method has shown to be able to accurately track blood pressure changes over short periods of time, after which re-calibration is necessary. The purpose of this study is to determine the accuracy of the method.

This paper describes the fabrication and electrochemical characterization of gold microband electrode arrays designated as a highly sensitive sensor for trace metal detection of copper in drinking water samples. Gold microband electrodes have been routinely fabricated by standard photolithographic methods. Electrochemical characterization were conducted in 0.1 M H₂SO₄ and found to display characteristic gold oxide formation and reduction peaks. The advantages of gold microband electrodes as trace metal sensors over currently used methods have been investigated by employing under potential deposition anodic stripping voltammetry (UPD-ASV) in Cu²⁺ nanomolar concentrations. Linear correlations were observed for increasing Cu²⁺ concentrations from which the concentration of an unknown sample of drinking water was estimated. The results obtained for the estimation of the unknown trace copper concentration in drinking was in good agreement with expected values.