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The
Electronic Tongue Of Texas |
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- The tongue looks like a round metal
disk and consists of hundreds of chemical micro-sensors
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"We're
not aware of any other technology in the marketplace that can
do this."
Jason
Levin
University of Texas
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AP |
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AUSTIN,
Texas
Sunday, January 03,1999 - 03:59 PM ET |
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(AP) The prospect of marketing
an electronic tongue worth a potential fortune to the pharmaceutical
industry has four University of Texas students salivating, to
say the least.
The technology, developed by UT chemists and engineers, could
become a hot property for the companies that market it commercially.
At least 30 companies worldwide have inquired about licensing
the tongue, including Vusion, a company created by four students
for a class project.
The electronic tongue mimics the speed and sophistication of
human taste buds. It looks like a round metal disk and consists
of hundreds of chemical micro-sensors on a silicone wafer smaller
than a penny.
Jason Levin is among four graduate business students hoping to
raise enough capital to purchase a university license, The American-Statesman
reported in Sunday's editions. The students want to market
the innovation to the pharmaceutical industry as a control monitor
for processing medicinal chemicals.
"It could give them instant feedback if there are problems
with quality," Levin said. "We're not aware
of any other technology in the marketplace that can do this."
Levin, with classmates Richard Burgess, Kent Bradshaw, and Paul
Kunko, created Vusion for a class competition, picked the UT
electronic tongue as its first product and won the contest.
"We'd like to license the technology to (Vusion) if possible,"
said Renee Mallett, assistant director of UT's Office of Technology
Licensing. "But we can't give them special treatment
because they're students. They have to come up with the necessary
capital."
Mallett declined to say how much money the students need for
a license, but said the tongue has so many potential uses that
it probably will be licensed to several companies, with royalties
going to the university and inventors.
Levin said Vusion plans to raise $150,000 for company operations
through May, $2 million in June when it will hire a chief executive,
scientists and engineers, and $3 million in June of 2000.
The tongue was invented by Dean Neikirk, an electrical and computer
engineer, and chemists John McDevitt, Eric Anslyn and Jason Shear.
They were inspired by European efforts to make bio-sensors as
sophisticated as an animal's nose, and began work in 1996.
The commercial potential is vast. Some companies want the technology
to test new food and drink products. The American military could
use it to monitor the disposal of chemical and biological weapons.
The tongue also is being considered as a tool for enhancing the
speed and accuracy of medical tests. The National Institutes
of Health recently gave the UT researchers $600,000 to develop
the tongue to try to replace multiple, lengthy tests of blood
and urine with one rapid test.
Neikirk said the inventors would like to see the business students
win one of the development licenses.
"Some big companies buy things and sit on them to avoid
the competition," Neikirk said. "And, with these
guys, we'd probably have more input in seeing it come to fruition." |
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Copyright 1998 The
Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not
be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. |
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