Lumen Winter 2016 - Flipbook - Page 8
Sniffing out disease
A
super-sensitive laser system
dubbed an optical dog’s nose is
being developed by IPAS scientists
to ‘sniff out’ disease in a person’s breath.
The optical frequency comb analyses
breath molecules to detect evidence of
disease before any external symptoms
are showing.
“Breath analysis is a relatively new
field with studies around the world
demonstrating that diseases such as
lung and oesophageal cancer, asthma
and diabetes can be detected in this way,”
said IPAS Director Professor Andre Luiten.
Scientists strike gold
P
ortable gold detection equipment
100 times more sensitive than
existing technology has been
developed by an IPAS research team.
Using light in two different processes
– fluorescence and light absorption –
researchers have shown they can detect
minute traces of gold in water at less
than 100 parts per billion.
The technology will allow exploration
companies to test for gold on-site at
the drilling rig with much greater
accuracy and speed.
6 Lumen | Winter 2016
The technology being developed by
IPAS sends up to a million different light
frequencies through each molecule to
reveal its unique molecular fingerprint.
“The system could lead to broadscale
health screening because it can test for
a range of molecules at once and offers
almost instant results,” said Andre.
The team hopes to have a working
prototype within two years and a
commercial product by 2020.
Andre thanked the SA Government
for supporting the project through the
Premier’s Research and Industry Fund.
Below: IPAS Director Professor Andre Luiten
in the Precision Measurement Laboratories,
The Braggs Building
“The presence of gold deep underground
is estimated by analysis of rock particles
from exploration drill holes but when
it’s in very low concentrations that’s
extremely challenging,” said post-doctoral
researcher Dr Agnieszka Zuber.
“Current portable methods for detection
are not sensitive enough and the more
sophisticated laboratory systems can take
weeks to produce results.”
The easy-to-use IPAS sensor aims to
deliver a result within an hour at much
lower cost. The research is funded by
the Deep Exploration Technologies
Cooperative Research Centre and the
technology is currently being tested on
rock samples with promising results.
Helping prove
Einstein right
S
cientists at IPAS have played a
key role in proving the existence of
gravitational waves, ripples in the
fabric of space-time first predicted by
Albert Einstein a century ago.
The technological triumph earlier this
year is sweet success for Associate
Professor Peter Veitch, the University’s
Head of Physics, who has spent most
of his working life trying to detect these
elusive waves.
Peter was part of an IPAS team that
provided support for the international
LIGO Scientific Collaboration. IPAS
researchers developed ultra-high
precision optical sensors to correct
the distortion of laser beams within
the Advanced LIGO detectors.
This enabled the high sensitivity
needed to detect minute signals
produced by the cataclysmic merger
of two black holes more than one
billion years ago.
“I’ve spent nearly 40 years working
towards this detection which could lead to
dramatic changes in our understanding of
the universe and its evolution,” said Peter.
