Artificial Nose Array

Detection of benzene by the artificial nose. The figure shows 35 sequential images of the bundle of optical fibers that make up the artificial nose. Each fiber has different chemicals attached. These chemicals differ in color, how well and for how long benzene attaches to them, and what effect that attachment has on their color. The sum of all the changes in the different images is a molecular signature for benzene, which allows it to be differentiated from many other chemicals. In this experiment, benzene is applied between frames 4 and 19, with the entire set of images covering less than nine seconds. Image courtesy of Todd Dickinson, John Kauer, and David Walt. Used by permission of Elsevier Science Ltd.