A Real-World Assessment of Stage I Lung Cancer Through Electronic Nose Technology.

INTRODUCTION: Electronic nose (E-nose) technology has reported excellent sensitivity and specificity in the setting of lung cancer screening. However, the performance of E-nose specifically for early-stage tumors remains unclear. Therefore, the aim of our study was to assess the diagnostic performance of E-nose technology in clinical stage I lung cancer. METHODS: This phase IIc trial (NCT04734145) included patients diagnosed with a single greater than or equal to 50% solid stage I nodule. Exhalates were prospectively collected from January 2020 to August 2023. Blinded bioengineers analyzed the exhalates, using E-nose technology to determine the probability of malignancy. Patients were stratified into three risk groups (low-risk, [<0.2]; moderate-risk, [≥0.2-0.7]; high-risk, [≥0.7]). The primary outcome was the diagnostic performance of E-nose versus histopathology (accuracy and F1 score). The secondary outcome was the clinical performance of the E-nose versus clinicoradiological prediction models. RESULTS: Based on the predefined cutoff (<0.20), E-nose agreed with histopathologic results in 86% of cases, achieving an F1 score of 92.5%, based on 86 true positives, two false negatives, and 12 false positives (n = 100). E-nose would refer fewer patients with malignant nodules to observation (low-risk: 2 versus 9 and 11, respectively; p = 0.028 and p = 0.011) than would the Swensen and Brock models and more patients with malignant nodules to treatment without biopsy (high-risk: 27 versus 19 and 6, respectively; p = 0.057 and p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: In the setting of clinical stage I lung cancer, E-nose agrees well with histopathology. Accordingly, E-nose technology can be used in addition to imaging or as part of a "multiomics" platform.

Detecting Dementia by Saliva Analysis: A Fingerprinting Unobtrusive Method Based on a Fast and Cheap Sensor System.

BACKGROUND: Recent studies have shown that oxidative stress plays a relevant role in Alzheimer's disease (AD), and in the pathogenesis of vascular dementia (VaD). New diagnostic methods look for biological samples with non-invasive sampling methods. Among these, saliva shows an increase in oxidative stress products, thus a corresponding reduction in antioxidant products were found in dementia cases compared to healthy controls. Compounds identified in saliva include some hydrocarbons whose production has been related to the presence of reactive oxygen species. OBJECTIVE: The hypothesis is that the voltammetric analysis performed on saliva could be a useful test for diagnosing dementia, potentially discriminating between AD and VaD. METHODS: A single-center observational study was conducted on patients referred to the dementia clinic in the Neurology area and healthy controls recruited in the Orthopedics area of the Campus Bio-Medico Hospital in Rome. The study was aimed at evaluating the discriminative properties of salivary voltammetric analysis between healthy subjects and patients with dementia and, as a secondary outcome, between AD and VaD. A total of 69 subjects were enrolled, including 29 healthy controls, 20 patients with AD, and 20 patients with VaD. The degree of cognitive impairment was classified on the basis of the Mini-Mental State Examination score. RESULTS: The results obtained are promising, with an accuracy of 79.7%, a sensitivity of 82.5%, and a specificity of 75.8%, in the discrimination of dementia versus controls. CONCLUSIONS: The methods tested demonstrate to be relevant in the discrimination between dementia and controls. A confirmatory study is already running.

Microsystem Nodes for Soil Monitoring via an Energy Mapping Network: A Proof-of-Concept Preliminary Study.

The need for accurate information and the availability of novel tool and technological advances in agriculture have given rise to innovative autonomous systems. The aim is to monitor key parameters for optimal water and fertilizer management. A key issue in precision agriculture is the in situ monitoring of soil macronutrients. Here, a proof-of-concept study was conducted that tested two types of sensors capable of capturing both the electrochemical response of the soil and the electrical potential generated by the interaction between the soil and plants. These two sensors can be used to monitor large areas using a network approach, due to their small size and low power consumption. The voltammetric sensor (BIONOTE-L) proved to be able to characterize different soil samples. It was able, indeed, to provide a reproducible voltammetric fingerprint specific for each soil type, and to monitor the concentration of CaCl2 and NaCl in the soil. BIONOTE-L can be coupled to a device capable of capturing the energy produced by interactions between plants and soil. As a consequence, the functionality of the microsystem node when applied in a large-area monitoring network can be extended. Additional calibrations will be performed to fully characterize the instrument node, to implement the network, and to specialize it for a particular application in the field.

Micromachined Tools Using Acoustic Wave Triggering for the Interaction with the Growth of Plant Biological Systems.

A plant biological system is exposed to external influences. In general, each plant has its characteristics and needs with specific interaction mechanisms adapted to its survival. Interactions between systems can be examined and modeled as energy exchanges of mechanical, chemical or electrical variables. Thus, each specific interaction can be examined by triggering the system via a specific stimulus. The objective of this work was to study a specific stimulus (mechanical stimulation) as a driver of plants and their interaction with the environment. In particular, the experimental design concerns the setting up and testing of an automatic source of mechanical stimuli at different wavelengths, generated by an electromechanical transducer, to induce a micro-interaction in plants (or in parts of them) that produces a specific behavior (hypothesis) of plants. Four different experimental setups were developed for this work, each pursuing the same objective: the analysis of the germination process induced by stimulation by sound waves in the audible range. It can be said that the introduction of sound waves as a stimulant or a brake for the growth of plants can offer significant advantages when used on a large scale in the primary sector, since these effects can be used instead of polluting chemical solutions.

Gut Microbiota and Related Electronic Multisensorial System Changes in Subjects With Symptomatic Uncomplicated Diverticular Disease Undergoing Rifaximin Therapy.

Background: Intestinal dysbiosis might play a pathogenetic role in subjects with symptomatic uncomplicated diverticular disease (SUDD), but the effect of rifaximin therapy has been scantly explored with regard to gut microbiota variations in patients with SUDD. Aims: To verify to which extent rifaximin treatment affects the gut microbiota and whether an electronic multisensorial assessment of stools and breath has the potential for detecting these changes. Methods: Breath and stool samples were collected from consecutive patients with SUDD before and after a 7 days' therapy with rifaximin. Stool microbiota was assessed, and the electronic multisensorial assessment was carried out by means of the BIONOTE electronic (e-)tongue in stools and (e-)nose in breath. Results: Forty-three subjects (female 60%, median age 66 years) were included, and 20 (47%) reported clinical improvement after rifaximin therapy. Alpha and beta diversity of stool microbiota did not significantly change after treatment, while a significant variation of selected taxa was shown (i.e., Citrobacter, Coprococcus, Anaerotruncus, Blautia, Eggerthella lenta, Dehalobacterium, SMB53, and Haemophilus parainfluenzae). Overall, the electronic multisensorial system suboptimally mirrored microbiota changes, but it was able to efficiently predict patients' clinical improvement after rifaximin with accuracies ranging from 0.81 to 0.98. Conclusions: In patients with SUDD, rifaximin administration is associated with significant variation of selected taxa. While inaccurate in predicting gut microbiota change, an electronic multisensorial system, made up of e-tongue and e-nose, was able to predict clinical improvement, thus potentially qualifying as an easy and cheap tool to forecast subjects taking most likely benefit from rifaximin therapy.

A Multi-Sensor System for Sea Water Iodide Monitoring and Seafood Quality Assurance: Proof-of-Concept Study.

Iodine is a trace chemical element fundamental for a healthy human organism. Iodine deficiency affects about 2 billion people worldwide causing from mild to severe neurological impairment, especially in children. Nevertheless, an adequate nutritional intake is considered the best approach to prevent such disorders. Iodine is present in seawater and seafood, and its common forms in the diet are iodide and iodate; most iodide in seawater is caused by the biological reduction of the thermodynamically stable iodate species. On this basis, a multisensor instrument which is able to perform a multidimensional assessment, evaluating iodide content in seawater and seafood (via an electrochemical sensor) and discriminating when the seafood is fresh or defrosted quality (via a Quartz Micro balance (QMB)-based volatile and gas sensor), is strategic for seafood quality assurance. Moreover, an electronic interface has been opportunely designed and simulated for a low-power portable release of the device, which should be able to identify seafood over or under an iodide threshold previously selected. The electrochemical sensor has been successfully calibrated in the range 10-640 µg/L, obtaining a root mean square error in cross validation (RMSECV) of only 1.6 µg/L. Fresh and defrosted samples of cod, sea bream and blue whiting fish have been correctly discriminated. This proof-of-concept work has demonstrated the feasibility of the proposed application which must be replicated in a real scenario.

Design of an Innovative Methodology for Cerebrospinal Fluid Analysis: Preliminary Results.

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis supports diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases (NDs), however a number of issues limits its potentialities in clinical practice. Here, a newly developed technique for fluid voltammetry, relying on a simple sensor (BIOsensor-based multisensorial system for mimicking Nose, Tongue and Eyes, BIONOTE), was used to test the applicability for CSF analysis. BIONOTE was initially calibrated on an artificial CSF-like solution and then applied on human CSF, either immediately after collection or after refrigerated storage. Following optimization, it was used to evaluate 11 CSF samples correlating the electrochemical dataset with CSF routine parameters and biomarkers of neurodegeneration. Multivariate data analysis was performed for model elaboration and calibration using principal component analysis and partial least squares discriminant analysis. BIONOTE presented a high capacity to predict both physiological and pathological constituents of artificial CSF. It differentiated distinct fresh human CSF samples well but lost accuracy after refrigerated storage. The electrochemical analysis-derived data correlated with either CSF routine cytochemical indexes or a biomarker of neurodegeneration. BIONOTE resulted as being a reliable system for electrochemical analysis of CSF. The CSF fingerprint provided by the sensor has shown itself to be sensitive to CSF modification, thus it is potentially representative of CSF alteration. This result opens the way to its testing in further study addressed at assessing the clinical relevance of the methodology. Because of its advantages due to the ease and rapidity of the methodology, a validation study is now required to translate the technique into clinical practice and improve diagnostic workup of NDs.

Development and Test of a Portable ECG Device with Dry Capacitive Electrodes and Driven Right Leg Circuit.

The use of wearable sensors for health monitoring is rapidly growing. Over the past decade, wearable technology has gained much attention from the tech industry for commercial reasons and the interest of researchers and clinicians for reasons related to its potential benefit on patients' health. Wearable devices use advanced and specialized sensors able to monitor not only activity parameters, such as heart rate or step count, but also physiological parameters, such as heart electrical activity or blood pressure. Electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring is becoming one of the most attractive health-related features of modern smartwatches, and, because cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the leading causes of death globally, the use of a smartwatch to monitor patients could greatly impact the disease outcomes on health care systems. Commercial wearable devices are able to record just single-lead ECG using a couple of metallic contact dry electrodes. This kind of measurement can be used only for arrhythmia diagnosis. For the diagnosis of other cardiac disorders, additional ECG leads are required. In this study, we characterized an electronic interface to be used with multiple contactless capacitive electrodes in order to develop a wearable ECG device able to perform several lead measurements. We verified the ability of the electronic interface to amplify differential biopotentials and to reject common-mode signals produced by electromagnetic interference (EMI). We developed a portable device based on the studied electronic interface that represents a prototype system for further developments. We evaluated the performances of the developed device. The signal-to-noise ratio of the output signal is favorable, and all the features needed for a clinical evaluation (P waves, QRS complexes and T waves) are clearly readable.

BIONOTE as an Innovative Biosensor for Measuring Endocannabinoid Levels.

In this study, a novel approach was developed to quantify endocannabinoids (eCBs), and was based on the liquid biosensor BIONOTE. This device is composed of a probe that can be immersed in a solution, and an electronic interface that can record a current related to the oxy-reductive reactions occurring in the sample. The two most representative members of eCBs have been analysed in vitro by BIONOTE: anandamide (N-arachidonoylethanolamine, AEA) and 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG). Bovine serum albumin was used to functionalize the probe and improve the sensibility of the whole analytical system. We show that BIONOTE is able to detect both AEA and 2-AG at concentrations in the low nanomolar range, and to discriminate between these eCBs and their moieties arachidonic acid, ethanolamine and glycerol. Notably, BIONOTE distinguished these five different molecules, and it was also able to quantify AEA in human plasma. Although this is just a proof-of-concept study, we suggest BIONOTE as a cheap and user-friendly prototype sensor for high throughput quantitation of eCB content in biological matrices, with an apparent diagnostic potential for tomorrow's medicine.

Characterization of inflammatory profile by breath analysis in chronic coronary syndromes.

AIMS: Exhaled breath contains thousands of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) produced during various metabolic processes both in health and disease.Analysis of breath with electronic nose BIONOTE-V allows modifications of exhaled VOCs to be studied, which are clinically recognized to be a marker for several disorders, including heart failure. New noninvasive tests based on VOCs analysis might be a useful tool for early detection of chronic coronary syndromes (CCS). METHODS: Exhaled air was collected and measured in individuals with an indication to perform invasive coronary angiography (ICA). All patients' samples were obtained before ICA. RESULTS: Analysis with BIONOTE-V was performed in a total cohort of 42 patients consecutively enrolled, of whom 19 did not require myocardial revascularization and 23 with indication for myocardial revascularization. BIONOTE-V was able to correctly identify 18 out of 23 patients affected by severe coronary artery disease (sensitivity = 78.3% and specificity = 68.4%). Our predicted model had a tight correlation with SYNTAX score (error of the BIONOTE-V = 15). CONCLUSION: CCS patients have a distinctive fingerprint of exhaled breath, and analysis by BIONOTE-V has the potential for identifying these patients. Moreover, it seems that this technique can correctly identify patients according to anatomical disease severity at ICA. If the preliminary data of this proof of concept study will be confirmed, this rapid and noninvasive diagnostic tool able to identify CCS might have an impact in routine clinical practice.

CO2 and O2 Detection by Electric Field Sensors.

In this work an array of chemical sensors for gas detection has been developed, starting with a commercial sensor platform developed by Microchip (GestIC), which is normally used to detect, trace, and classify hand movements in space. The system is based on electric field changes, and in this work, it has been used as mechanism revealing the adsorption of chemical species CO2 and O2. The system is composed of five electrodes, and their responses were obtained by interfacing the sensors with an acquisition board based on an ATMEGA 328 microprocessor (Atmel MEGA AVR microcontroller). A dedicated measurement chamber was designed and prototyped in acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) using an Ultimaker3 3D printer. The measurement cell size is 120 × 85 mm. Anthocyanins (red rose) were used as a sensing material in order to functionalize the sensor surface. The sensor was calibrated using different concentrations of oxygen and carbon dioxide, ranging from 5% to 25%, mixed with water vapor in the range from 50% to 90%. The sensor exhibits good repeatability for CO2 concentrations. To better understand the sensor response characteristics, sensitivity and resolution were calculated from the response curves at different working points. The sensitivity is in the order of magnitude of tens to hundreds of µV/% for CO2, and of µV/% in the case of O2. The resolution is in the range of 10-1%-10-3% for CO2, and it is around 10-1% for O2. The system could be specialized for different fields, for environmental, medical, and food applications.

A Sensor Platform for Athletes' Training Supervision: A Proof of Concept Study.

One of the basic needs of professional athletes is the real-time and non-invasive monitoring of their activities. The use of these kind of data is necessary to develop strategies for specific tailored training in order to improve performances. The sensor system presented in this work has the aim to adopt a novel approach for the monitoring of physiological parameters, and athletes' performances, during their training. The anaerobic threshold is herein identified with the monitoring of the lactate concentration and the respiratory parameters. The data collected by the sensor are used to build a model using a supervised method (based on the partial least squares method, PLS) to predict the values of the parameters of interest. The sensor is able to measure the lactate concentration from a sample of saliva and it can estimate a respiratory parameter, such as maximal oxygen consumption, maximal carbon dioxide production and respiratory rate from a sample of exhaled breath. The main advantages of the device are the low power; the wireless communication; and the non-invasive sampling method, which allow its use in a real context of sport practice.

Repeatability of exhaled breath fingerprint collected by a modern sampling system in asthmatic and healthy children.

E-noses provide potential non-invasive metabolic biomarkers for diagnosing and monitoring pulmonary diseases. The primary aim of the present study was to assess the within-day and between-day repeatability of a modern breath sampling system (Pneumopipe® plus an array of e-nose sensors) in asthmatic and healthy children. The secondary aim was to compare the repeatability of the breath sampling system, spirometry and exhaled nitric oxide (eNO). Fifteen children (age 6-11 years) with asthma and thirty healthy children matched by age and gender (1:2 allocation) were recruited; of them, three healthy children did not complete the study. All measurements were collected twice during the baseline visit, 30 min apart, and once during the final visit, after 7 d. Repeatability was assessed through the intra-cluster correlation coefficient (ICC), and a significance test was performed to detect an at least 'fair' repeatability (ICC > 0.2). In asthmatic children, the within-day (0-30 min) ICCs for e-nose sensors (8 sensors × 4 desorption temperatures) ranged from 0.24 to 0.84 (median 0.57, IQR 0.47-0.71), while the between-day (0-7 d) ICCs ranged from 0.25 to 0.83 (median 0.66, IQR 0.55-0.72). In healthy children, the within-day ICCs for e-nose sensors ranged from 0.29 to 0.85 (median 0.58, IQR 0.49-0.63), while the between-day ICCs ranged from 0.33 to 0.82 (median 0.55, IQR 0.49-0.63). In both groups, most of the within-day and between-day ICCs for e-nose sensors were statistically significant. Moreover, the within-day and between-day ICCs for all spirometry parameters and eNO were significant and similar to those of the most reliable sensors. The modern breath sampling system showed more than acceptable within-day and between-day repeatability, in both asthmatic and healthy children. The present study was registered on the central registration system ClinicalTrials.gov (ID: NCT03025061).

Use of voltammetric analysis for fast and objective discrimination of the etiology, evolution, and bacterial infection of lower limb ulcers.

The timely recognition of leg ulcers (LU) etiology and infection is pivotal to optimize management and accelerate healing. The objective of this proof-of-concept study was to test the diagnostic performance of voltammetric analysis (VA) on ulcer exudate to identify LU etiology, infection, and predict clinical course. We enrolled 25 patients aged ≥60 years, affected by 42 venous/arterial LU. Clinical examination (Leg Ulcer Measurement Tool score, LUMT), swab culture, and VA were performed at baseline and 30 days. The ability of VA to predict outcomes was tested using partial least square-discrimination analysis. Mean age was 75 years (SD 11.1), 9/25 were male. The accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity vs. etiology were 97.4, 100%, and 94.1%, respectively; the corresponding figures were 95.2%, 100%, 88.9%, for infection and 94%, 84.6%, 100% for predicted objective LUMT worsening. VA is a promising diagnostic/prognostic tool for management of LU that may allow a more timely targeted therapy.

Cluster analysis on breath print of newly diagnosed COPD patients: effects of therapy.

BACKGROUND: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a highly heterogeneous disease and airflow limitation and symptoms only partially capture such heterogeneity. Since COPD is known to affect the production of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), we aimed to verify to which extent exhaled VOCs can characterize newly diagnosed COPD patients and changes in response to inhaled therapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty newly diagnosed COPD patients were consecutively recruited among those attending the pulmonary medicine outpatient clinic at 'Campus Bio-Medico' University Hospital. VOCs were collected using the Pneumopipe® and analysed by the BIONOTE electronic nose both at baseline and after 12 weeks of inhaled therapy. Patients were grouped using K-mean cluster analysis on BIONOTE responses and the obtained clusters were compared via non-parametric tests. RESULTS: We identified three clusters of subjects: (a) without remarkable comorbidities; (b) with air trapping and higher BODE index score (mean 1.2); (c) without air trapping and with a lower BODE index. Inhaled bronchodilators caused a quantitative reduction in the amound of VOCs, while inhaled steroids provided a qualitative modification of the breath profile. CONCLUSION: VOCs patterns categorize newly diagnosed COPD subjects. VOCs production declines after bronchodilators administration and changes in quality after topic steroid treatment.

Validation of exhaled volatile organic compounds analysis using electronic nose as index of COPD severity.

Aim: Six-minute walking test distance (6MWD) and body mass index, obstruction, dyspnea and exercise (BODE) index are measures of functional status in COPD patients, but require space, time and patient's compliance. Exhaled volatile organic compounds (VOCs) analysis via electronic nose is a quick and easy method that has already been used to discriminate COPD phenotypes. The aim of this study is to evaluate whether VOCs analysis can predict functional status and its variation over time in COPD patients. Methods: A monocentric prospective study with 1 year of follow-up was carried out. All patients underwent pulmonary function tests, arterial gas analysis, bioimpedance analysis, 6-minute walking test, and VOCs collection. Exhaled breath was collected with Pneumopipe® and analyzed using BIONOTE electronic nose. Outcomes prediction was performed by k-fold cross-validated partial least square discriminant analysis: accuracy, sensitivity and specificity as well as Cohen's kappa for agreement were calculated. Results: We enrolled 63 patients, 60.3% men, with a mean age of 71 (SD: 8) years, median BODE index of 1 (interquartile range: 0-3) and mean 6MWD normalized by squared height (n6MWD) of 133.5 (SD: 42) m/m2. The BIONOTE predicted baseline BODE score (dichotomized as BODE score <3 or ≥3) with an accuracy of 86% and quartiles of n6MWD with an accuracy of 79%. n6MWD decline more than the median value after 1 year was predicted with an accuracy of 86% by BIONOTE, 52% by Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) class and 78% by combined BIONOTE and GOLD class. Conclusion: Exhaled VOCs analysis identifies classes of BODE and n6MWD quartiles, and outperforms GOLD classification in predicting n6MWD variation.

Voltammetric analysis for fast and inexpensive diagnosis of urinary tract infection: a diagnostic study.

BACKGROUND: Dipstick test is widely used to support the diagnosis of urinary tract infections (UTI). It is effective in ruling out UTI, but urine culture is needed for diagnosis confirmation. In this study we compared the accuracy of voltammetric analysis (VA) with that of DT to detect UTI (diagnosed using urine culture), and its usefulness as a second-stage test in people with positive DT. METHODS: 142 patients were enrolled with no exclusion criteria. VA was performed using the BIONOTE device. Partial Least Square Discrimination Analysis was used to predict UTI based on VA data; diagnostic performance was evaluated using sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values (PPV and NPV, respectively), positive and negative likelihood ratios (LR), accuracy, diagnostic odds ratio (DOR). RESULTS: Mean age was 76.6 years (SD 12.6), 57% were male. VA had a better overall performance respect to DT in detecting UTI with accuracy 81.7% vs 75.9%, specificity 90.8% vs 82.5%, PPV 75% vs 61.4%, positive LR 6.68 vs 3.5, DOR 17.7 vs 7.47; sensibility, NPV and negative LR of the two tests were similar. VA had an accuracy of 82.4% in discriminating bacterial from fungal infections. When added as a second-stage test, VA identified 9 of the 17 false positive patients, with a net specificity of 91.7%, sensitivity 54%, PPV 75% and NPV 81%. CONCLUSIONS: VA is a quick and easy method that may be used as a second stage after DT to reduce the number of urine culture and of inappropriate antibiotic prescriptions.

Unmasking of Olive Oil Adulteration Via a Multi-Sensor Platform.

Methods for the chemical and sensorial evaluation of olive oil are frequently changed and tuned to oppose the increasingly sophisticated frauds. Although a plethora of promising alternatives has been developed, chromatographic techniques remain the more reliable yet, even at the expense of their related execution time and costs. In perspective of a continuous increment in the number of the analyses as a result of the global market, more rapid and effective methods to guarantee the safety of the olive oil trade are required. In this study, a novel artificial sensorial system, based on gas and liquid analysis, has been employed to deal with olive oil genuineness and authenticity issues. Despite these sensors having been widely used in the field of food science, the innovative electronic interface of the device is able to provide a higher reproducibility and sensitivity of the analysis. The multi-parametric platform demonstrated the capability to evaluate the organoleptic properties of extra-virgin olive oils as well as to highlight the presence of adulterants at blending concentrations usually not detectable through other methods.

Design and test of a biosensor-based multisensorial system: a proof of concept study.

Sensors are often organized in multidimensional systems or networks for particular applications. This is facilitated by the large improvements in the miniaturization process, power consumption reduction and data analysis techniques nowadays possible. Such sensors are frequently organized in multidimensional arrays oriented to the realization of artificial sensorial systems mimicking the mechanisms of human senses. Instruments that make use of these sensors are frequently employed in the fields of medicine and food science. Among them, the so-called electronic nose and tongue are becoming more and more popular. In this paper an innovative multisensorial system based on sensing materials of biological origin is illustrated. Anthocyanins are exploited here as chemical interactive materials for both quartz microbalance (QMB) transducers used as gas sensors and for electrodes used as liquid electrochemical sensors. The optical properties of anthocyanins are well established and widely used, but they have never been exploited as sensing materials for both gas and liquid sensors in non-optical applications. By using the same set of selected anthocyanins an integrated system has been realized, which includes a gas sensor array based on QMB and a sensor array for liquids made up of suitable Ion Sensitive Electrodes (ISEs). The arrays are also monitored from an optical point of view. This embedded system, is intended to mimic the working principles of the nose, tongue and eyes. We call this setup BIONOTE (for BIOsensor-based multisensorial system for mimicking NOse, Tongue and Eyes). The complete design, fabrication and calibration processes of the BIONOTE system are described herein, and a number of preliminary results are discussed. These results are relative to: (a) the characterization of the optical properties of the tested materials; (b) the performance of the whole system as gas sensor array with respect to ethanol, hexane and isopropyl alcohol detection (concentration range 0.1-7 ppm) and as a liquid sensor array (concentration range 73-98 µM).

A plant derived multifunctional tool for nanobiotechnology based on Tomato bushy stunt virus.

Structure, size, physicochemical properties and production strategies make many plant viruses ideal protein based nanoscaffolds, nanocontainers and nano-building blocks expected to deliver a multitude of applications in different fields such as biomedicine, pharmaceutical chemistry, separation science, catalytic chemistry, crop pest control and biomaterials science. Functionalization of viral nanoparticles through modification by design of their external and internal surfaces is essential to fully exploit the potentiality of these objects. In the present paper we describe the development of a plant derived multifunctional tool for nanobiotechnology based on Tomato bushy stunt virus. We demonstrate the ability of this system to remarkably sustain genetic modifications and in vitro chemical derivatizations of its outer surface, which resulted in the successful display of large chimeric peptides fusions and small chemical molecules, respectively. Moreover, we have defined physicochemical conditions for viral swelling and reversible viral pore gating that we have successfully employed for foreign molecules loading and retention in the inner cavity of this plant virus nanoparticles system. Finally, a production and purification strategy from Nicotiana benthamiana plants has been addressed and optimized.