Summary
- Profile Type
- Technology offer
- POD Reference
- TOSI20230928008
- Term of Validity
- 28 September 2023 - 27 September 2025
- Company's Country
- Slovenia
- Type of partnership
- Research and development cooperation agreement
- Commercial agreement with technical assistance
- Targeted Countries
- All countries
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General information
- Short Summary
- A small, portable and user-friendly device for monitoring nanoparticles and aerosols in the air can be used for alerting exceeded critical concentration of respiratory droplets to prevent disease spreading, analyzing droplets in the clouds and spray mist, monitoring of air pollution with particles or testing of inhalers-dosed drugs. Partners for technical cooperation and license agreement are sought to customize device for end-user.
- Full Description
-
Air pollution with nanoparticles and spreading of airborne diseases in crowded places have been globally identified as a risk for public health. There is a lack of affordable and miniaturized instruments for detection of air pollution with particles in the range scale of viruses (approx. 100 nm in diameter) and small respiratory droplets (< 1 μm) on the market to be widely used in places where lots of people gather.
A Slovenian research institute has developed a novel method and instrument for counting and measuring small (respiratory) droplets and solid aerosols in the ambient air. A miniaturized and easy-handling device for air quality monitoring is based on the capacitance change principle, which allows real-time full-scale size distribution measurements, meaning no long-time acquisition and size channel setup is required. With the built-in system for warning when the critical concentration of respiratory droplets in the air is exceeded, the device will allow preventive ventilation of the room. Currently, instrument undergoes transitioning from a laboratory prototype to a portable, rugged, and easy-to-use device.
Potential users of the device are health institutions (hospitals, community health centers), education and care facilities (kindergartens, schools, nursing care), indoor sport facilities (fitness centers, gyms), meeting centers (congress halls), resort & entertainment (concert halls, theatres, casinos, restaurants, pubs, hotels), transport providers (trains, planes, buses, stations), coal mines, ironworks, etc. - Advantages and Innovations
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AeroDrop is portable, rugged, reliable device for detection of small sizes of aerosols with a fast, real-time response, and a self-cleaning function. This practical & simple tool is suitable for monitoring the concentration of respiratory droplets and alarming the critical time required for ventilation to prevent or reduce the possibility of infections with pathogenic viruses through aerosols. It enables monitoring of air pollution due to ultra-fine or nanoparticles in different environments, i.e., urban areas, the proximity of industrial zones, power plants and incinerators, busy roads, in the tunnels, mines, plants for metal processing, woodworking or mills to prevent fire. The device allows measuring the size and concentration of droplets in atmosphere for more accurate weather prediction, e.g. weather balloons, or for testing of inhalers-dosed drugs in the case of spray technologies.
Main advantages:
(i) It detects particles, particles embedded in water droplets and water droplets of different size range, including those smaller than 300 nm, which is the detection limit of optical counters.
(ii) It is portable with mass less than 0.5 kg.
(iii) Its power supply is a battery.
(iv) It starts to measure immediately without warming up process.
(v) It is user-friendly and does not contain any radioactive or x-ray charger as it is the case in commercial instrument for counting nanoparticles. - Stage of Development
- Available for demonstration
- Sustainable Development Goals
- Goal 3: Good Health and Well-being
- IPR status
- IPR granted
Partner Sought
- Expected Role of a Partner
- Partners are sought amongst companies and organizations that specialise in the development and production of sensors and devices for monitoring air quality for technical cooperation and license agreement. Pilot projects with partners with access to potential users are anticipating for further development to customize the device to potential end-users.
- Type and Size of Partner
- SME 11-49
- R&D Institution
- Big company
- SME <=10
- SME 50 - 249
- Type of partnership
- Research and development cooperation agreement
- Commercial agreement with technical assistance
Dissemination
- Technology keywords
- 03003 - Apparatus Engineering
- 09001009 - Sensor Technology related to measurements
- Market keywords
- 05007007 - Other medical/health related (not elsewhere classified)
- 05010001 - Safety for the elderly
- 08004001 - Air filters and air purification and monitoring equipment
- 05007004 - Monitoring equipment
- Sector Groups Involved
- Health
- Targeted countries
- All countries