Until now, the table has been tested with the rat, with a version for dogs to come, says Lavella. In a demonstration video seen exclusively by Wired, a Canaery scientist uses a baguette to capture an air sample from four different petri boxes, each containing a different fragrant. The BIP baguette and sends the odor molecules through a tube to a pod which houses a rat equipped with the nez-morder interface. A few seconds after the animal smells, perfume information is sent to a phone on the pod. A mobile application displays the name of the compound that animal odors, as well as a quality score which takes into account the accuracy and concentration of molecules.
Currently, Canaery’s Rat prototype can detect criminal fire accelerators and smoke -free powder in ammunition, as well as methamphetamine, cocaine and fentanyl.
In mammals, the nose and the brain work together to detect odors. When smell molecules enter the nostrils, they bind to olfactory receptors. Humans have around 450 types of olfactory receivers, while dogs have twice as much. Each odor stimulates different combinations of receptor types, producing a unique electrical signal. This signal is sent to the olfactory bulb to be treated. Lavella compares the surface of the olfactory bulb to a checkerboard. When an odor enters, the squares light up on the checkerboard in a specific pattern.
Canaery uses AI software to recognize these models and associate them with odors. After setting up the table, scientists expose the animal to an odor to form AI models. Lavella says that the software can be formed at around three sessions. During these sessions, scientists have more than two dozen samples from the same smell to animal. Later, the animal is again exposed to the smell to validate the models of AI.
The current network located in the demonstration rat at 128 electrodes which capture the neural signals of the olfactory bulb. Researchers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory work on a new table with 767 electrodes to capture more information. “This new generation device will allow us to have greater performance in the field against complex background odors and confusing vapors that are in the air,” explains Lavella.
The smell of decoding is not a new business. The researchers worked on “Electronic nose” technology To detect smells in the past 40 years. These devices use chemical sensors to convert the smell molecules to electrical signals, which are then analyzed by a model recognition system to identify the odor source. But these devices have historically been able to detect that a small range of odors.
“Animals can do things that we cannot have current sensors have done, so it’s an intelligent way to get around this problem,” explains Joel Mainland, Olfaction researcher at the Money Chemical Senses Center, a research institute for non -lucrative in Philadelphia.
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