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Chemical warfare agents such as the lethal nerve agent soman are a major source of risk to military personnel. Currently, pyridostigmine bromide (PB) is the only FDA-approved pretreatment to counteract the effects of soman. The rationale behind PB administration is that it acts as a “temporary” inhibitor of AChE. This precludes nerve agents from irreversible inactivation of AChE, thereby mitig ...

To address the Chemical and Biological Defense (CBD) need for a field-portable mass spectrometer for small molecule drugs in clinical samples, Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to develop a new FiEldable DRug Mass Analysis (FERMA) system based on a combination of portable mass spectrometry technology with laser desorption/ionization for use with aqueous clinical samples. The FERMA system ...

To address the CBD’s need for real-time analytical technology for multicomponent vapor identification and quantification, Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to continue the development of a new Photoacoustic Gasses Optical Detector and Analyzer (PAGODA) autonomous, network-enabled photoacoustic spectrometer (PAS) for the correlation, analysis, and identification of measured spectra. In t ...

A program to develop a compact, MLA-based, LWIR, full-motion-video hyperspectral imager for chemical detection is proposed. The proposed Hyperspectral Chemical Imaging Sensor (HyCIS) builds upon Surface Optics’ real-time hyperspectral imaging activities, including our 3D full-motion-video spectral imaging (FMV-SI) technology and our MIDIS hyperspectral image processor. Simultaneously sampling 16 ...

SA Photonics is please to submit the proposal for the HawkEye compact LWIR hyperspectral imaging system. HawkEye leverages SA Photonics previous visible, SWIR, and LWIR programs to result in a compact, hand held, battery operated hyperspectral imager in a low cost design approach. Furthermore, HawkEye will leverages SA Photonics expertise in warfighter body worn equipment and ground troop personal ...

The synthetic opioids fentanyl and carfentanil pose an imminent national security threat, given the ease with which they can be obtained, their low lethal doses, and their potential for weaponized use. The purpose of this agreement is to adapt SensoDx’s high-performance miniaturized diagnostics platform based on a programmable bio-nano-chip, with embedded artificial intelligence, to enable U.S. ...

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 ...

There is an urgent need for a rapid biological detection system that demonstrates the efficacy of decontamination products for inactivating Bacillus anthracis spores on environmental surfaces. To address the U.S. Army/CBD need for such a fieldable, rapid, NIST-certified, quantitative bio-indicator system, Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to develop a new Spores Viability Detection (SVD) ...

We propose a metamaterial-enhanced microbolometer with strong absorption over a narrow band that is dynamically tunable over the 8-10 micron band. A single-layer photonic metamaterial consisting of a thin metal film perforated with a 2-D array of dielectric apertures will be deposited on an amorphous-Silicon layer acting as an absorber and bolometer. The metamaterial, in conjunction with planar di ...

Intelligent Optical Systems (IOS) proposes to develop a field-rugged, colorimetric indicating test paper that is capable of detecting multiple chemical warfare agents (CWAs), at low concentrations, in adverse environments. The proposed sensor array will detect threatening chemical agents and provide a visual readout after coming in contact with the agent, or agents. This array will overcome the st ...