An Interface Of The Nose Could Turn Dogs Into Super Detectors

Until now, the matrix has been tested in rats, with a dog version that will come later, says Lavella. In a demonstration video seen exclusively by Wired, a Canaery scientist wears a wand to capture an air sample of four different Petri dishes, each with a different smell. The wand emits a beep and sends the smell molecules through a tube to a pod that houses a rat equipped with the nose contraction interface. A few seconds after the animal smells smell, the aroma information is sent to a phone that is above the capsule. A mobile application shows the name of the compound that the animal smells, as well as a quality score that takes into account the precision and concentration of molecules.

Currently, Canaery rat prototype can detect fire and smokeless powder accelerating used in ammunition, as well as methamphetamine, cocaine and fentanyl.

In mammals, nose and brain work together to detect odors. When smell molecules enter the nostrils, they bind to olfactory receptors. Humans have about 450 types of olfactory receptors, while dogs have twice as much. Each smell stimulates different combinations of types of receptors, producing a unique electrical signal. That signal is sent to the olfactory bulb to be processed. Lavella compares the surface of the olfactory bulb to a chess board. When a smell enters, the squares light up on the chess board in a specific pattern.

Canaery uses AI software to recognize these patterns and associate them with odors. After implanting the matrix, scientists expose the animal to the smell of training the AI models. Lavella says the software can be trained in about three sessions. During these sessions, scientists have more than two dozen samples of the same smell of the animal. Later, the animal is exposed to the smell again to validate AI models.

The current matrix implemented in the demonstration rat has 128 electrodes that capture neuronal signs of the olfactory bulb. Researchers at the National Livernce Livermore laboratory are working on a new matrix with 767 electrodes to capture more information. “This next -generation device will allow us to have a higher performance in the field against complex smells and confusion vapors that are in the air,” says Lavella.

The decoding smell is not a new effort in any way. Researchers have been working on “electronic nose” technology to detect odors during the last 40 years. These devices use chemical sensors to convert smell molecules into electrical signals, which are then analyzed by a pattern recognition system to identify the source of smell. But these devices have historically been able to detect only a small range of smells.

“Animals can do things that we cannot make the current sensors do, so it is an intelligent way to avoid that problem,” says Joel Continental, a smell researcher at the Monell Chemical Sentese Center, a non -purpose research institute of profit in Philadelphia.