2409270
Cooperative Agreement
Overview
Grant Description
SBIR Phase II: An ultra-compact, remotely programmable chemical analyzer utilizing a novel ion trap mass spectrometer.
The broader impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project is that it promises to greatly expand the power of mass spectrometry for chemical detection and analysis to a far broader user base than currently exists.
The ultimate goal is to produce a miniaturized sensor package sufficiently affordable that it can be a replaceable component in an ultra-compact, autonomous sensor.
This is enabled by a microfabricatable ion trap geometry that circumvents key short-comings of previous chip-scale mass analyzer efforts.
The company aims to one day bring this technology to the consumer market where it can inform household residents of harmful trace or odorless chemicals present in their homes.
With advances in artificial intelligence and deep learning, the company’s products may also be able to inform household residents of volatile organic compound signatures from their own bodies that might be indicative of the early onset of disease, in a manner similar to dogs’ noses that have a demonstrated ability to smell certain types of cancer, Parkinson’s disease, and COVID-19, among other conditions.
Prior to entry into the consumer market, handheld instruments can be leveraged for important in-situ analytics in fields such as defense, energy production, pharmaceutical research, and other industrial and academic applications.
This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will enable the development of a novel, patented ion trap mass analyzer and its utilization and commercialization as an ultra-portable chemical analyzer.
Mass spectrometers are the gold standard for chemical analysis and have wide-ranging applications; however, widespread utilization of these powerful instruments is hindered by their high cost, size, weight, and power.
Current portable instruments are ~$100K USD, roughly the size of a small suitcase, and operate for only a few hours on a single battery charge.
The proposed innovative ion trap mass analyzer geometry scales down gracefully, enabling microfabrication or other batch manufacturing techniques to be utilized to drive significant cost savings in production to the point where the ion trap can be incorporated in an instrument physics package that is a replaceable cartridge, thus eliminating the need for expert maintenance.
Coupled with modern computational methods and processing power, these mass spectrometry-based chemical sensors could be utilized for chemical analysis applications for which mass spectrometry is currently not a cost-effective solution.
This goal of ubiquitous, high specificity chemical analysis technology could generate massive amounts of novel raw data informing and creating future collective research and advanced applications/solutions.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
Subawards are not planned for this award.
The broader impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project is that it promises to greatly expand the power of mass spectrometry for chemical detection and analysis to a far broader user base than currently exists.
The ultimate goal is to produce a miniaturized sensor package sufficiently affordable that it can be a replaceable component in an ultra-compact, autonomous sensor.
This is enabled by a microfabricatable ion trap geometry that circumvents key short-comings of previous chip-scale mass analyzer efforts.
The company aims to one day bring this technology to the consumer market where it can inform household residents of harmful trace or odorless chemicals present in their homes.
With advances in artificial intelligence and deep learning, the company’s products may also be able to inform household residents of volatile organic compound signatures from their own bodies that might be indicative of the early onset of disease, in a manner similar to dogs’ noses that have a demonstrated ability to smell certain types of cancer, Parkinson’s disease, and COVID-19, among other conditions.
Prior to entry into the consumer market, handheld instruments can be leveraged for important in-situ analytics in fields such as defense, energy production, pharmaceutical research, and other industrial and academic applications.
This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will enable the development of a novel, patented ion trap mass analyzer and its utilization and commercialization as an ultra-portable chemical analyzer.
Mass spectrometers are the gold standard for chemical analysis and have wide-ranging applications; however, widespread utilization of these powerful instruments is hindered by their high cost, size, weight, and power.
Current portable instruments are ~$100K USD, roughly the size of a small suitcase, and operate for only a few hours on a single battery charge.
The proposed innovative ion trap mass analyzer geometry scales down gracefully, enabling microfabrication or other batch manufacturing techniques to be utilized to drive significant cost savings in production to the point where the ion trap can be incorporated in an instrument physics package that is a replaceable cartridge, thus eliminating the need for expert maintenance.
Coupled with modern computational methods and processing power, these mass spectrometry-based chemical sensors could be utilized for chemical analysis applications for which mass spectrometry is currently not a cost-effective solution.
This goal of ubiquitous, high specificity chemical analysis technology could generate massive amounts of novel raw data informing and creating future collective research and advanced applications/solutions.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
Subawards are not planned for this award.
Awardee
Funding Goals
THE GOAL OF THIS FUNDING OPPORTUNITY, "NSF SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH PHASE II (SBIR)/ SMALL BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER (STTR) PROGRAMS PHASE II", IS IDENTIFIED IN THE LINK: HTTPS://WWW.NSF.GOV/PUBLICATIONS/PUB_SUMM.JSP?ODS_KEY=NSF23516
Grant Program (CFDA)
Awarding / Funding Agency
Place of Performance
Atlanta,
Georgia
30308-2805
United States
Geographic Scope
Single Zip Code
Ionicscale was awarded
Cooperative Agreement 2409270
worth $1,000,000
from National Science Foundation in November 2024 with work to be completed primarily in Atlanta Georgia United States.
The grant
has a duration of 2 years and
was awarded through assistance program 47.084 NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships.
The Cooperative Agreement was awarded through grant opportunity NSF Small Business Innovation Research / Small Business Technology Transfer Phase II Programs (SBIR/STTR Phase II).
SBIR Details
Research Type
SBIR Phase II
Title
SBIR Phase II: An ultra-compact, remotely programmable chemical analyzer utilizing a novel ion trap mass spectrometer
Abstract
The broader impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project is that it promises to greatly expand the power of mass spectrometry for chemical detection and analysis to a far broader user base than currently exists. The ultimate goal is to produce a miniaturized sensor package sufficiently affordable that it can be a replaceable component in an ultra-compact, autonomous sensor. This is enabled by a microfabricatable ion trap geometry that circumvents key short-comings of previous chip-scale mass analyzer efforts. The company aims to one day bring this technology to the consumer market where it can inform household residents of harmful trace or odorless chemicals present in their homes. With advances in artificial intelligence and deep learning, the company’s products may also be able to inform household residents of volatile organic compound signatures from their own bodies that might be indicative of the early onset of disease, in a manner similar to dogs’ noses that have a demonstrated ability to smell certain types of cancer, Parkinson’s disease, and CoVID-19, among other conditions. Prior to entry into the consumer market, handheld instruments can be leveraged for important in-situ analytics in fields such as defense, energy production, pharmaceutical research, and other industrial and academic applications.
This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will enable the development of a novel, patented ion trap mass analyzer and its utilization and commercialization as an ultra-portable chemical analyzer. Mass spectrometers are the gold standard for chemical analysis and have wide ranging applications, however, widespread utilization of these powerful instruments is hindered by their high cost, size, weight, and power. Current portable instruments are ~$100k USD, roughly the size of a small suitcase, and operate for only a few hours on a single battery charge. The proposed innovative ion trap mass analyzer geometry scales down gracefully, enabling microfabrication or other batch manufacturing techniques to be utilized to drive significant cost savings in production to the point where the ion trap can be incorporated in an instrument physics package that is a replaceable cartridge, thus eliminating the need for expert maintenance. Coupled with modern computational methods and processing power, these mass spectrometry-based chemical sensors could be utilized for chemical analysis applications for which mass spectrometry is currently not a cost-effective solution. This goal of ubiquitous, high specificity chemical analysis technology could generate massive amounts of novel raw data informing and creating future collective research and advanced applications/solutions.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
Topic Code
QT
Solicitation Number
NSF 23-516
Status
(Ongoing)
Last Modified 9/17/24
Period of Performance
11/1/24
Start Date
10/31/26
End Date
Funding Split
$1.0M
Federal Obligation
$0.0
Non-Federal Obligation
$1.0M
Total Obligated
Activity Timeline
Additional Detail
Award ID FAIN
2409270
SAI Number
None
Award ID URI
SAI EXEMPT
Awardee Classifications
Small Business
Awarding Office
491503 TRANSLATIONAL IMPACTS
Funding Office
491503 TRANSLATIONAL IMPACTS
Awardee UEI
CVB1EH38G4W8
Awardee CAGE
97G54
Performance District
GA-05
Senators
Jon Ossoff
Raphael Warnock
Raphael Warnock
Modified: 9/17/24