SatCon Granted U.S. Patent for Biological and Chemical Detection System; Company Completes Product Validation Phase, Sets Sights on New Opportunities
Business/Technology Editors
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 25, 2001--As a result of research conducted under a contract with the U.S. Army Research Office, SatCon Technology Corporation(R) (Nasdaq NM: SATC) today said the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has granted Patent No. 09/780,792 which covers the optical signal processing component of the company's biological and chemical detection system. The company also said it has completed the demonstration and validation phase of its advanced biological contamination sensing technology program for the U.S. Army.
As first announced in November 1999, research was initiated at SatCon Applied Technology to develop an optical sensing based system to detect traces of chemical and biologic agents in food and liquids, such as botulism or e-coli and other pathogens, within a very small sample size in near real time. The recently awarded patent covers SatCon's high speed, highly sensitive platform and a method for detecting and/or measuring characteristics of a substance in a sample.
David Eisenhaure, SatCon's president and chief executive officer, said, "The goal of the program is to develop a portable laptop-sized detection system capable of on-site detection of chemical and biologic agents rapidly and without extensive and time-consuming laboratory analysis. The program was initiated by the U.S. Army Research Office to demonstrate SatCon's evanescent wave biosensing approach in a portable system for detecting contaminants in food and liquids. We have expanded the system to include potential commercial applications as well as for medical testing." Eisenhaure said that one of the original non-military applications for which SatCon has been performing feasibility studies is for the detection of contaminants in drinking water supplies such as large reservoirs.
SatCon has several programs under development at its Applied Technology business unit that are supported by government contracts and often have wide applications. With renewed emphasis on real time biological detection, the company believes it may have new opportunities for this technology that will further its product development. Participants in the program include the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Tufts University and Boston University. |
