Award Data

Physical Science Inc. (PSI) will develop a new approach to chemical vapor detection based on a novel open-path sample cell design. The PhaseI system level model predicts SNR supporting a probability of detection of 95% and a MTBFA of 168 hours for all relevant CWAs and TICs at the10 minute negligible MEG level at a 20 s measurement time. In addition to robust detection, the system design can provi ...

Poor air quality represents a major public health risk, contributing to an estimated one of every eight deaths worldwide. Low-cost air quality sensors have developed rapidly over the last few years and offer the opportunity to make air quality monitoring widespread at an affordable price. However, low-cost sensors are currently unable to deliver accurate, reliable data due to a lack of understandi ...

Triton Systems, Inc. proposes development of the Open-Source Oceanographic Asset Recovery Beacon (OpenORB) that will allow the deployment of coastal instrumentation moorings with affordable protection against loss. This open-source kit would significantly reduce the purchase price of a commercial location beacon by allowing the end-user to assemble a customized system with minimal time and effort. ...

Chemical, Biological, Radioactive and Nuclear (CBRN) protective ensembles are widely used by the US Military and civilian first responders as the first line of defense for personnel working in contaminated environments. Many innovative products have been developed for the chemical protective clothing market in response to demand from the market place for improved performance. However, the need for ...

The standard US military treatment for nerve agent exposure is application of up to three autoinjectors, each containing atropine sulfate and 2-pralidoxime, to counteract symptoms of nerve agent intoxication and restore acetylcholinesterase activity. This treatment increases survival rates after nerve agent exposure, however, seizures resulting from nerve agent poisoning are a common symptom that ...

Physical Sciences Inc. will develop a Tomographic Digital Holographic Microscope with integrated Infrared spectromicroscopy (T-DHM/IR) to enable time resolved correlation of chemical and 3D structural properties of biological warfare agents (BWAs), microorganisms and infected human tissue. The T-DHM/IR uses a precision hexapod stage and a custom reflective microscope objective with NA = 0.83 to pe ...

Military respirator masks provide the Warfighter with life critical protection against chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) threats. To ensure the safety, comfort, and effectiveness of the American Warfighter, it is essential that every Warfighter be assigned a respirator that is properly sized and fitted. However, current methods for sizing and fitting respirators depend on manu ...

In addition to military scenarios, many environmental inhalant hazards exist in the workplace, from industrial sites to medical facilities. Frequent training and practice are an essential component of effective protection, yet valid methods for assessing proper mask fit are usually not provided beyond the minimum requirements and there is a significant lack of mask fit training to ensure that prop ...

In Phase I, we developed a prototype instrument for counting, sizing and identifying both non-toxic and toxic Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) species. We did this by integrating three innovative technologies: High-throughput color, Light Field Imaging Flow Cytometry to acquire morphological information for each cell, Raman spectroscopy to acquire species-specific molecular information on pigments and tr ...

Nerve agents exert their toxic effect by binding to and inactivating enzyme acetylcholinesterase, a key enzymatic regulator of cholinergic neurotransmission. The binding becomes irreversible after a varying amount of time with nerve agents and this aging process limits the treatment window of oxime reactivators. To enhance the current antidote treatment of nerve agent autoinjectors, a pyridostigmi ...