Methods and apparatus for artificial olfaction
US9140677B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 13, 2013 |
| Grant date | Sep 22, 2015 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 14, 2033 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01N27/00
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
In exemplary implementations of this invention, an electronic olfactor determines whether a scent being tested matches the scent of a positive control. The electronic olfactor can perform this scent matching even in a changing olfactory environment, and even if the positive control scent is a combination of hundreds or thousands of different odorants. No prior training is needed, and no attempt is made to identify a single odorant that is unambiguously responsible for a scent. Instead, a computer compares the total scent pattern of a positive control sample with the total scent pattern of a test sample, across a sweep of many permutations of electrical inputs to scent sensors, to try to find any condition under which the total scent patterns do not match. If such a condition cannot be found, then the computer declares a match between the test and target scents.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.