Purdue Unveils a Tricorder

aeoneal writes "According to Science Daily, mass spectrometry is no longer limited to what can be taken to the lab. Purdue researchers have created a device they liken to a tricorder, a handy 20-lb. device that combines mass spectrometry with DESI (desorption electrospray ionization), allowing chemical composition to be determined outside of a vacuum chamber. Purdue suggests this could be useful for everything from detecting explosive substances or cancer to predicting disease. Researcher R. Graham Cooks says, 'We like to compare it to the tricorder because it is truly a hand-held instrument that yields information about the precise chemical composition of samples in a matter of minutes without harming the samples.'"

Obligatory...

a handy 20-lb. device

"He's dead Jim."

"Well, I dropped the tricorder on his head."

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Now if they could make it for $20, I would buy it.

Re:Obligatory...

On the plus side, if you get involved in any shirtless hand-to-hand combat with strangely humanoid aliens, you won't have to go looking for any styrofoam rocks.

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http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df /Body_painting.JPG [wikimedia.org]

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Tubby? No wonder girls are putting their finger down their throats. Looks healthy to me.

smells like ... the future

In 1992 Harry Harrison (of SF fame) and Marvin Minsky (of AI fame) collaborated on The turing option [amazon.com], trying to merge Minsky's ideas about how an artificial mind could work with a SF story. Wasn't exactly a masterpiece, but there was an astonishing twist: In the book a brilliant scientist creates the first true AI and embeds it into a sort of fractal robot, whose arms are split into more arms like branches on a tree, ending with thousands of autonomous arms with their own vision each. And the first place this system is used (after being stolen): in agriculture, picking up bugs.

So I will predict the first mass use of Purdue's Tricorder: Japanese toilets!!! [wikipedia.org]. It can already recognize "biomarkers" in urine, so someone will build a cheap version of it into a toilet and every time you take a dump it will tell you what you should not have been eating, how sick you will be tomorrow and that if you continue that way your insurance won't cover your therapy. It will save the health systems billions.

.

Oh, and I'm serious about the toilet part.

Re: The Island

Interestingly, the "toilet tricorder" was shown in the 2005 movie "The Island" starring Ewan McGregor. The toilet detected too much salt/nitrates in the urine and restricted him from eating bacon.

fractal robot

Hmmm...they must have stolen it from Rocheworld [york.ac.uk].

First use will be military, second law enforcement

So I will predict the first mass use of Purdue's Tricorder: Japanese toilets!!!. It can already recognize "biomarkers" in urine, so someone will build a cheap version of it into a toilet and every time you take a dump it will tell you what you should not have been eating, how sick you will be tomorrow and that if you continue that way your insurance won't cover your therapy. It will save the health systems billions.

The first use will be counterterrorism/counterinsurgency, the second law enforcement. In the law enforcement context they will analyze the air around you when they stop you to chat, pull you over, etc. The molecules leaving your body/clothing/car will enter the public domain atmosphere and be fair game for analysis. It think there is precedent from having dogs sniff the exterior of a car at a border crossing, the pot smell entered the public domain, the trained dog signaled, instant probably cause for a search. Similar justifications will be safety related. "I need to interview you, but first for your safety and mine, I need to scan you."

pussies

The research team has used the device to ... identify cocaine on $50 bills in less than 1 second.

REAL playas use Benjamins to snort blow!

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Where'd they get the cocaine? And it's actually an important point - everything that requires knowing what an material is made of is bound to be used EVERYWHERE.

.......BEEP BEEP. ....MOM! Why is there broccoli in this??

Re:pussies

Where'd they get the cocaine?

Well, since studies have shown that up to 4 out of 5 [snopes.com] circulated bills have traces of cocaine, I'd say that it was fairly easy. However, before you try to smoke your $50s, the amount per bill is very small (16 micrograms).

Re:pussies

I had a colleague who was testing out a new mass-spec machine (probably similar to the one in TFA) to verify cleanliness between campains at a plant site. The machine had been developed for use in airports, and the software already contained the profiles for a number of drugs and explosives. Apparently, as the sibling points out, coke is on a lot of our money. Most of the time it is in the ppb level, which could be transfer from money that was with money that was with money that was with coke. Occasionally however a bill would show 100 - 1000x the typical amount, we concluded that those were bills that made it into peoples noses.

A related note, a lot of money on the also has measurable levels of meth.

I don't think the point to this how much money is involved in drug trade, but rather how inter-connected out money is, and how good our analytical chemistry techniques are.

Although... a terrorist would probably be using money that hasn't been in wide circulation - perhaps we could spot them by seeing if too much money any individual is carrying is devoid of drugs.

Re:pussies

Although... a terrorist would probably be using money that hasn't been in wide circulation - perhaps we could spot them by seeing if too much money any individual is carrying is devoid of drugs.
 
What a great logical conclusion. I can just see a politician/cop/prosecutor thinking this. Clean money = terrorist. Dirty money = drug user. Lockem up!

Still waiting for the TNG version

a handy 20-lb. device

Must be the ST:TOS version. At 20 lb, I would imagine that a shoulder strap is mandatory wear. Thanks, but I'll wait until the ST:TNG version hits.

Re:Still waiting for the TNG version

but the black finish and chrome highlights...It's a classic design.

Just wait...

In the 29th century, it'll be worn on your wrist.

In the 33rd century, it'll be an implant...

Take a good look..

Remember what calculators and computers looked like 20 years ago? In a couple of decades we'll be looking at these pictures and laughing ourselves silly at the description 'portable'.

Re:Take a good look..

Insightful. But it can go the other way: Many laptops these days are more like boat anchors. Well, the ones running Vista, anyway.

Re:Take a good look..

*clarification: Vista does not run well on boat anchors. They really prefer an Aqua interface.*

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Vista does not run well on boat anchors.

      Until you lower them in the water. Then you get to see how they fixed the sleep/shut down problems...

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Ever read a Hardy Boys [wikipedia.org] book?

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Would be interesting to have such a device in a lighter form that could scan something and inform a person if it is safely eatable or not; it would be a must have for survival package.

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Remember what calculators and computers looked like 20 years ago? In a couple of decades we'll be...laughing ourselves silly at the description 'portable'.

Har, point taken, but you've gotta be kidding about calculators getting smaller. 25 years ago, I b

God damn, reminds me of my "portable" Kaypro

Not to say it wasn't convent to have a computer with a handle.

That being said, I wonder how hard it would be to miniaturize this kind of scanning technology. There is a real need for smaller computers, but is there a real need for mass-produced mass spe

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Now no. That is a product that must become available before common household applications come to light. As long as it costs $50+ they won't be used much so this has a long way to go. If they are mass produced in a lightweight handheld version with an idio

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but is there a real need for mass-produced mass spectrometers?

Never get ripped off buying blow again! Yeah!

Also, the next cop who busts me might find it useful for testing my 'stash' without destroying it. Farmers could do soil tests out in the field. Ambulance crews could use it for quick diagnosis. A school c

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" real need for mass-produced mass spectrometers?"

Police, airport security, and military applications spring to mind easily. The article did point out that they could detect cocaine residues. Other drugs, and explosives are just as easy I'm sure. I wonde

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"I wonder what the range is?"

It can go up to 11.

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There is a real need for smaller computers, but is there a real need for mass-produced mass spectrometers?

I'd buy one.

I'd use it when eating out to test for bacteria, virii and other contaminants.

I'd use it at home to analyze the paint on my walls and prod

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I doubt there could be quite as much of a need for smaller mass spec than there is for smaller computers, but I think applications will definitely be found for man-portable mass spec as these devices become smaller and more robust. One of these would allo

detects explosive compounds

the boston police should be happy about this

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I don't know, I don't think it would be a good idea to send a 20-pound package to the Boston police marked "Warning: Sensitive Electronics".

Re:detects explosive compounds

>>the boston police should be happy about this

Why, does it also detect portable lighting displays?

Re:detects explosive compounds

the boston police should be happy about this

Sergeant: Sir, according to this device, the cartoon character is made of plastic. If I remember my extensive training at community college correctly, bombs can be made of plastic explosives. I recommend we shut down the city and destroy all the cartoon characters at great expense to the taxpayers.

Mayor: Sergeant, why waste all the taxpayer's time and money on a few lamps?

Sergeant: Cause fuck em, that's why.

Mayor: Excellent.

IGEN Tricorder released in 2000

IGEN (now called Bioveris) is a biotech in MD that licenced the Tricorder (R) name from Paramount for their product. PDF list o products [bioveris.com]

and it detects

• E. coli
• Salmonella
• Listeria
• Cryptosporidium
• Botulinum Neurotoxin A & B , E & F
• Staph A
• Staph B
• Ricin
• Anthrax

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licenced the Tricorder (R) name from Paramount

      All they have to do is call it a Tri-quarter and viola, problem solved ;)

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What does a viola have to do with anything?

      It's how drunk Frenchmen say "voila"...

The weight

After carrying one of those around all day with a shoulder strap you'd welcome a Vulcan nerve pinch to ease the pain.

Very clever

This does indeed have enormous potential. But - how many million does it cost?

Looks like a...

Spock: It looks like a toaster Jim.
Jim: Spock...what's a toaster?
Spock: It was a early 21st century tool for draining primitive power sources.
Jim: Why would they need such a tool?
Spock: The existence of such a tool defies logic Jim.
Dr. McCoy: YOU VILE EARTH BASHING VULCAN. Everything that was made by pre-space fairing human defies logic.
Dr. McCoy: I was used to prepare food, YOU POINTY-EARED AUTOMATON.

Jim: Oh look...toast

Two measurements ?

Wouldn't that be a Bi-corder rather than a Tri-corder?

I'm holding out for the next generation.

Actually, this is not the first...

While it is a new design, and has different features, this is in fact not the first tricorder that has been made.

http://www.stim.com/Stim-x/0996September/Sparky/tr icorder.html [stim.com] talks about the very first "tricorder," but it doesn't look like it was very successful. Maybe Purdue's device will stick around longer.

By the way, something that is very interesting to note is that Gene Roddenberry allows anyone who creates devices like the ones in Star Trek (and presumably its variations) can use the names used in the show. Get to work all you Trekkie engineers!

OK, but ..

...allowing chemical composition to be determined outside of a vacuum chamber. Purdue suggests this could be useful for everything from detecting explosive substances or cancer to predicting disease.

OK, but if we use this, can we get the chemical compo

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Well, yes, but you won't get it in a cooking recipe form.
Consider an apple- you'd get things like "fructose", "sodium", etc. You wouldn't point it at an apple and get "apple". It'd take a lot more effort to do what you suggest than you think.

No Surprise

It's no surprise to me that such a scanning device is developed. And like any new technology, it is always just the beginning.

After all, We have the quantum computer, beginning to master quantum entanglement for teleportation, tractor beam, and last but n

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I dunno, but it seems to take tooth fillings for Golden Tickets...

*RUNS*

-uso.

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So, throw in a geiger-counter(sp) and a thermometer/barometer and you are set.

Re:Anyone know anything about these?

A mass spectrometer needs to be a certain size since it ionizes a molecule to break it into smaller pieces and then passes them through a magnetic field. The charge (of the ion fragments) interacts with the magnetic field to cause the path of the fragment to bend. The radius of the curvature of the deflection is correlated to the mass/charge ratio, thus the mass spectrometer will tell how massive the fragments are. By knowing the mass of the fragments, the formula and structure of the compound can be elucidated by using a few tricks based on the isotopic abundance of elements in the earth.

Wikipedia has a pretty good article and diagram.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_spectrometry [wikipedia.org]

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why do these things have to be so large in the first place. Anyone in the know point me to a good explanation of how these work?

Here [wikipedia.org] for some vague info on how a spectrometer works. Basically you have to turn the stuff to gas (so you