Intelligent early warning system: glowing glove in case of poison contact
Doctors and laboratory technicians will in future be warned in good time when they encounter toxins or pathogens thanks to a glove's intelligent early warning system. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is developing "smart" fingertip sensors that resemble thin latex gloves.
When doctors or lab workers encounter viruses with their wearable early warning system, their fingertips light up brightly. Otherwise, the intelligent gloves resemble the thin latex gloves that housewives put on when cleaning windows and the like.
The MIT researchers have made several types of gloves. One version is made of latex. Only the fingertips are covered by living material. Bandages that detect changes in the skin are also feasible.
Elastic phosphorescent hydrogel
First, the MIT scientists made a film with four channels into which they filled microorganisms that lit up green when they came into contact with a certain chemical. Finally, they transferred the bacteria-filled film to a glove. They doped each fingertip with a different type of bacteria, creating a sensor for various pollutants and pathogens.
A team of practitioners then set about locating the manipulated microorganisms in the material. They opened the finest channels in the material into which the cells diffused. Finally, it ended up in a nutrient solution that was absorbed by the hydrogel. The solution is a hydrogel that consists of 95 percent water, but is still as flexible and tear-resistant as a latex glove.
According to the researchers, the custom-made device is made of "living material," an elastic hydrogel into which they have imprisoned genetically engineered microorganisms.
These have two abilities at once: When they detect pollutants, they begin to phosphoresce. The hydrogel can be loaded with engineered bacteria that react to different pollutants and pathogens, says Timothy Lu, a lecturer in biological, computer and engineering sciences at MIT.
In a way, it is a portable early warning system. Until now, such manipulated microorganisms as the bacterium Escherichia coli have only been cultivated in Petri dishes in the laboratory.
regulate humidity
The MIT researchers' task was to ensure that the bacteria find moisture and nutrients in the hydrogel skin. Some of them also need oxygen. At the same time, the experts had to prevent the microorganisms from escaping. Some researchers use freeze-dried microorganisms that they fix in paper strips. But their sensitivity to pollutants is far lower than that of living cells.
