h-ALO SENSOR: Applications

The EU-funded research and innovation project h-ALO has developed a microfluidic photonics-based sensor enabling the on-site early detection of contaminants in the farm-to-fork local food chains.

The resulting h-ALO sensor is meant as tool to bridge the gap between local food production chains and food safety/quality monitoring. It targets the need of actors in the farm-to-fork food chains such as aquaponics, organic honey, craft-beer, and raw milk.

The h-ALO sensor will generate datasets that will be transmitted to a central cloud software through a smartphone or an alternative internet network. The software will classify the results according to available contents (legislation and historical analytical data) and give end users immediate and appropriate feedback on compliance or, in case of non-compliance, measure to minimize the impact of contamination on the products.

• efficient data analysis and presentation by analytical models, reporting tools and Application Program Interfaces (APIs)

• data sharing, that makes data available for usage outside the h-ALO environment by an API

h-ALO KEY EXPLOITABLE RESULTS

The collaboration of h-ALO partners has allowed to reach the following results, which will be exploited by partners after the end of the project:

h-ALO system

Portable biosensing system based on fluorescence and SPR, able to detect and quantify pesticides, heavy metals and microbes in liquid food matrices.

Method for bacterial cells collection and purification

Innovative sample preparation strategies for microbial and chemical analyte detection, that ensure efficient, accurate and reliable results for a variety of sample types, including aquaponics water, honey, raw milk, and beer.

Statistical Process Control-based diagnostic method

New state-of-the-art microsieve membrane technology for the efficient collection, concentration, and analysis of various analytes, including microbial and chemical components from diverse samples like honey, raw milk, and more.

Method to store reagents in a disposable microfluidic system

Method to store reagents in a disposable microfluidic system for point of need testing that requires reliable and convenient ways of reagent management (i.e. buffers, washing solutions, enzymes,…) for multiple tests.

Innovative microfluidic setup

Novel combination of relevant markers enabled by parallel detection of protein-based and DNA-based markers enables, providing a simple sample-in-answer-out system for a convenient end-user experience.

Integrated chip for fluorescence-based detection

Compact photonic chip component for fluorescence-based sensing, based on unprecedented combination of organic optoelectronic devices with a polymeric optical stop-band filter, onto the same substrate, as an all-organic on-chip integrated fluorescence sensor.

Light sensing device

Miniaturized spectrally selective light sensing device based on organic phototransistor for application in light sensors and optical biosensors, containing a monolithic integration of OPT with an optical filter.

Fabrication protocol for nanoplasmonic surfaces

The protocol provides the possibility of tuning the optical properties of the NPG with the wavelength of the available source and detector for the LSPR measurement.

Methods to immobilize a fluorophore

Two methods of surface modification allowing the observation of the effect of the nearby surface plasmon coupling to the spectral features of a fluorophore: polyelectrolyte electrostatic deposition and Tetraethyl-orthosilicate doped coating.

Multiplex detection of antiparasitics

A broad-target antiparasitic multiplex screening assay for the detection of the antiparasitic groups of benzimidazoles and avermectins in milk for the effective application to raw milk samples, answering to EU-imposed maximum residue levels.

Nano-current measurement system

Nano-current measurement system for measurement of photocurrents from organic photodiodes (OPDs), with high accuracy and sensitivity in monitoring photocurrents, which are crucial for food quality analysis through photonic systems.

h-ALO data analytics platform (SOFTWARE)

The solution developed consists of a flexible application that allows the implementation and deployment of virtually any analytical algorithm.

Dataset of legal limits and actions

The database contains a collection of information on legislative limits for relevant analyses and suggestions for management solutions. It can help FBO in undertaking the right decision after the receipt of unfavorable analytical results building a Food Safety Culture in a dynamic, practice–based way.

End User Committee

Collaborative platform engaging small- to medium-sized farms and local vendors in aquaponics, craft beer, raw milk, and organic honey. This committee actively contributed to the development of the h-ALO sensor, ensuring it aligns with the specific safety and risk-related needs of the targeted food chains.