What if you or others could detect the presence of COVID-19 particles or droplets as soon as they or you entered the area?
A self-sustaining technology that has been developed by a cooperative research team puts this closer to reality. The battery-free gadget uses an iron, cobalt, and nickel magnetostrictive clad plate to generate electricity by alternate magnetization brought on by vibration.
The presence of COVID-19 particles in the air is suggested by a shift in the vibration resonance frequency of the Fe-Co/Ni plates that were coated with the receptor protein coronaviruses employ to enter human cells.
“We know that resonance frequency changes when the weight of a magnetostrictive material changes, but we set out to answer whether this is also the case when a virus is absorbed and if this absorption is detectable,” said Fumio Narita, co-author of the study and professor at Tohoku University’s Graduate School of Environmental Studies.
Fumio and his team had to develop an effective inverse magnetostrictive sensing device that could work without batteries and transmit data wirelessly in order to begin answering these concerns.
A rectifier/storage circuit that harnessed bending vibration energy and allowed for wireless data transfer was added to a 0.2 mm thick Fe-Co/Ni plate. The power from the plate’s bending vibration at 115 Hz or 116 Hz was used to send signals.
We were able to confirm that the magnetostrictive composite material can detect the virus and transmit this detection data using power generated by itself. The self-sustaining nature of the device renders it possible to link it to IoT technologies in the future, something not capable with current biosensors.
Fumio Narita
It could identify any materials that were attached to the clad plate because a change in clad plate weight impacted the transmission intervals and resonance frequency.
The team then developed the bio-identification layer, deciding to concentrate on human coronavirus 229E (HCoV-229E), one of the seven coronavirus kinds that impact humans. They carried out sensing studies while submerging the coated plate in a CD13 protein solution.
The resonance frequency reduced when HCoV-229 was absorbed, demonstrating that the charged power could communicate virus detection as a signal when the coated clad plate was subjected to bending vibration.
“We were able to confirm that the magnetostrictive composite material can detect the virus and transmit this detection data using power generated by itself,” added Narita. “The self-sustaining nature of the device renders it possible to link it to IoT technologies in the future, something not capable with current biosensors.”
If the biorecognition layer of the device were modified, it could be applied to additional infections. “In the future, we hope to further develop our device and see if it applies to other viruses, such as MERS, SARS, and COVID-19,” said Narita.
Further details of their study were published in the journal Sensors and Actuators A: Physical.
