Concept · water, food, farms, facilities
Murky water cannot hide the answer.
Environmental samples are messy: green with algae, brown with soil, full of particles that glow under ordinary test lights. Crystal reporters are read with invisible near-infrared light that those samples do not turn into visible glow, so a field test can measure a toxin or a pathogen right at the lake, the plant or the pen.
Try it · why it works
Algae glow. Under infrared, they go dark.
Chlorophyll in algae and humic matter in water glow strongly when lit with visible or ultraviolet light, the light ordinary fluorescent tests use. Switch the light source and watch what the detector sees.
Illustration.
Where it could be used
Four places samples get messy.
Every area below is a concept: the reporter and reader exist, the specific assays have not yet been built. Each uses either a sandwich format for proteins and microbes or a competitive format for small toxins.
Lakes, wells and reservoirs
Algal toxins after a bloom, fecal bacteria at beaches, pathogens in drinking-water systems. See inline water readers →
Plants and supply chains
Pathogens on lines, allergens in "free-from" products, mold toxins in grain, read as numbers on site.
Prion contamination
Chronic wasting disease prions bind to soil and surfaces. Swabs and washes from pens, feeders, water sources and processing facilities. Linked to the CWD program.
Hospitals, schools, buildings
Surface and water checks where infection control matters, with a digital record of every test.
Field-ready by design
Swab, dip, read on site.
The same single-use cartridge idea as DisposableDx, with a wicking pad in place of microneedles. Milk pasteurization test →
- CollectSwab or dipA surface swab, a water sample or a food rinse.
- WickInto the cartridgeA pad meters the sample onto the test lines. No pipette.
- Read980 nm, time-gatedThe reader ignores the sample's own color and glow.
- RecordA number with a place and timeUploaded with GPS and time stamp for the compliance file.
The reporter and reader
Quantitative crystal strips read in the field for years in human health programs.
Tiny amounts, real samples
Schistosome antigen detected down to 0.5 pg/mL: proof that trace targets can be read in biological fluids.
Environmental assays
Toxin, pathogen, allergen and prion tests for water, food and surfaces are designed, not yet built.
Partners wanted
Test it where it is, not where the lab is.
We are looking for water utilities, food-safety, agriculture and environmental-testing partners to build field assays on the crystal reader.
All diagnostics programs
One reporter. People, animals and the environment.
See the overview and readiness map →Intelligent Material Solutions invents the crystals and holds the intellectual property; NovaVera Corp. makes and sells them under an exclusive license. The field-proven lateral-flow tests are for research use only. Everything marked in development or concept is not a cleared medical, veterinary or environmental test; any product would need validation and, where required, regulatory clearance.
