Physical activity monitoring devices, such as accelerometers, are useful aids to athletes and those exercising to lose weight. However, such devices cannot monitor rest energy expenditures, which is over 75% of daily energy usage. For those seeking to lose weight and especially those who cannot exercise, there is a need for a device that can accurately...

The monitoring and control of gas flows are important in industrial applications, including fluid transport and delivery and in medical applications such as oxygen delivery and breath measurements. Flow sensors have been built on many principles including mass transport, mechanical measurements of flow and/or pressure, optical techniques, and many...

BTEX is a complex group of aromatic volatile organic compounds (Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, and Xylenes) associated with automobile exhaust pollution. Many epidemiological studies have linked elevated levels of BTEX to adverse human health effects. Measuring BTEX usually requires the use of gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC-MS)....

Electrochemical sensors that can quickly, selectively, and sensitively detect unknown chemicals in air or water are vital for many applications. These include environmental monitoring, biomedical diagnostics, security applications, and food and drinking water safety. Current electrochemical sensors fail to detect low concentrations of important...

Surface or interfacial impedance spectroscopy has been established as a powerful technique for many applications, ranging from electrochemistry and corrosion analysis to biochips and biosensors. Most applications utilize a single or an array of electrodes and an electrical instrument to perform impedance measurement and analysis, which does not...

The ability to quickly and reliably detect minute changes in environmental conditions, including the presence of chemical, biological or other physical threats within a low-cost, miniaturized package would have broad impact across a variety of application. The presence or absence of specific chemicals and toxic gases in air, harmful compounds in...

Electrochemical sensors are widely used in numerous chemical and medical applications to detect concentrations of analytes. Electrical sensors are also widely used to determine analyte concentrations detecting molecular binding-induced conductance or impedance changes in electrical materials. Although both sensing techniques have proven extremely...

Commercial applications of nanotechnology require reliable and cost-effective methods to mass-fabricate various nanostructured materials and devices. Atomic-scale contacts between metal electrodes have been created mechanically by breaking a fine metal wire and by separating two metal electrodes in contact. The breaking and separating are usually...

The ability to quickly and reliably detect minute changes in environmental conditions,including the presence of chemical, biological or other physical threats within a low-cost, miniaturized package would have broad impact across a variety of application. The presence or absence of specific chemicals and toxic gases in air, harmful compounds in...

Commercial applications of nanotechnology require reliable and cost-effective methods to mass-fabricate various nanostructured materials and devices. Atomic-scale contacts between metal electrodes have been created mechanically by breaking a fine metal wire and by separating two metal electrodes in contact. The breaking and separating are usually...