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Publication : New Straits Times
ASSOCIATE Professor Dr Abdul Hamid, dean of the school of Mechatronic Engineering, said UniMAP was working on an invention for commercialization.
It is called the hybrid electronic sensory system (HESS), which is a way of how human perceives smell and taste.
The system has been developed by a group of researchers led by Professor Dr Ali Yeon Md Shakaff, Professor Dr Md Noor Ahmad, as well as researchers Abu Hassan Abdullah, Marni Azira Markon, Ammar Zakaria, Nafizah Ahmad Fikri, Erdy Sulino Muslim Tan, AKM Shafiqulim Islam, Abdul Hallis Abdul Aziz, Mohd Azudin Mohd Arif, Fathi Nasrullah and Wahyu Hidayat.
HESS is a first prototype of a hybrid system incorporating the working principles of an electronic nose (E-Nose) with an electronic tongue (E-Tongue)
The E-Nose can detect and analyze odours and volatile organic compounds. It is made to act as a smelling device which can reduce the risk of and complaints about environmental pollution.
The research group at UniMAP has developed an indigenous electronic nose called M-Nose, and was part of the research funded by the Federal Land Development authority (Felda).
The E-Tongue is designed for taste analysis of liquid matrices such as gels, syrups, solutions, emulsions or solids dissolved in liquid solution.
The group has also developed an indigenous lipid-based electronic tongue, and initially used to differentiate drinking water quality as well as Tongkat Ali drinks.
Both products comprise of several parts: a sampling system of sensor arrays, electronic data acquisition, a controlling system and pattern recognition software.
Hamid said it had always been UniMAP’s goal to develop a manmade system that could improve the performance of human smelling and tasting senses.
He said most of the work covered the investigation into the quantitative and qualitative aspects of multi-component solutions for smell and taste.
The introduction of HESS for many applications is possible because it had overcome the shortcomings of human panels.
“The good thing about this system is that it is not prone to fatigue and is more consistent compared with a human panel.”
The applications of such a system is enormous in environmental and agricultural fields, such as water quality inspection, produce quality assurance and differentiation as well as other post-harvest activities.
They provide objective measurement and cost savings from odour and tasting management.
In the case of environment, Hamid said measuring smells continuously means better profits for emitting companies, better community relations, prospects for expansion and savings in abatement-running costs.
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