2009 R&D 100 Winner
Monitoring water quality is difficult because of the time lag between detection and action. The water must be collected at several sites and transported to the lab for testing after what is typically a 24-hour delay. The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute’s (MBARI) Environmental Sample Processor (ESP) is a robotic underwater laboratory. The instrument is about the size of a garbage can and can be deployed up to 50 m deep on an underwater mooring, or rest on a pier or shore housing. The core ESP instrument autonomously collects and prepares water samples for analysis in a reaction chamber called a puck. A syringe pump collects water samples, filters the samples and treats it with reagents and heat to create a lysate, which can be processed in a variety of ways including a sandwich-hybridization assay or PCR assay. Pictures of the arrays can be sent to shore via a CCD camera by radio or satellite. The ESP holds enough pucks and reagents for 30 to 40 assays.
Technology
Robotic underwater laboratory
Developer
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
