"The detection of ultrafine particles in air pollution is of great importance due to the negative health implications of particles that have high aggregate surface area for carrying chemical contaminants and that can penetrate tissues and enter the blood stream or nervous system directly.”
BERKELEY, Calif. (PRWEB) March 29, 2021
AirSpeQ, a fine and ultrafine air pollution sensor company based out of Berkeley, California is excited to announce that it has been granted two patents for its innovative thin film bulk acoustic resonator based particulate matter (PM) air pollution mass sensors.
US patents 10,948,391 and 10,948,392 are the first two patents granted to the company. The company has four more patents in different stages of processing and will be submitting an additional two patents in the coming months. Patent 10,948,391 involves a method for analyzing particles including concentrating the particles in an interior region of an air stream, generating a thermal gradient to deflect the concentrated particles from the interior of the air stream to a peripheral region of the air stream, receiving orientation information, and adjusting the thermal gradient in response to the received orientation information.
US Patent 10,948,392 is a system for analyzing particles in an air stream that includes a first heater element configured to deflect particles in an interior region of the air stream towards a peripheral wall of an air channel encompassing the air stream, a second heater element controllable to deflect the particles in a first lateral direction along the peripheral wall, and a third heater element controllable to deflect the particles in a second lateral direction along the peripheral wall.
AirSpeQ’s National Science Foundation (NSF) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant supplemental Technical and Business Assistance (TABA) funding supported office actions that resulted in the granting of these two patents. “NSF is proud to support the technology of the future by thinking beyond incremental developments and funding the most creative, impactful ideas across all markets and areas of science and engineering,” said Andrea Belz, Division Director of the Division of Industrial Innovation and Partnerships at NSF. “With the support of our research funds, any deep technology startup or small business can guide basic science into meaningful solutions that address tremendous needs.”
AirSpeQ has won industry accolades including the NASA Earth Space Air Prize, the Top 100 Red Herring companies in North America, the Edison Award in 2020 and the Talents Taipei 2020 competition. David Woolsey, Chief Technology Officer and named inventor noted: “Understanding the physics of thermophoresis on sub-micron particulates allows the manipulation and detection of particles that can not easily be detected by other means. The detection of ultrafine particles in air pollution is of great importance due to the negative health implications of particles that have high aggregate surface area for carrying chemical contaminants and that can penetrate tissues and enter the blood stream or nervous system directly.”
About Aerodyne Microsystems Inc, dba AirSpeQ: AirSpeQ was founded at the end of 2015. AirSpeQ is committed to protecting human health and the planet with its affordable high-quality fine and ultrafine air pollution sensors. Based on patented Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) and film bulk acoustic resonator (FBAR) technology, it leverages over twelve years of research and development at the University of California at Berkeley and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The company has received funding from NASA, NIH and NSF. For more information visit http://www.airspeq.com or watch a short introductory video at https://www.airspeq.com/intro-video