On 9th July two representatives from ANB Sensors visited Queens University, Belfast to carry out an initial trial of the pH sensor in real rumen fluid. The pH sensor in development is based on electrochemical measurements at two different working electrodes. The first working electrode measures the pH and the second measures a reference potential, working as an internal reference thereby negating the need for calibration. The objective of these tests was simply to see if any electrochemical signal was achieved in the rumen fluid by the two working electrodes.
The picture below shows our sensor in the Daisy II equipment at Queens.
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The sensor was immersed into pure rumen fluid and strong electrochemical signals were obtained for all electrodes (as shown below). From these experiments, and from previous work carried out at ANB Sensors, heating of the sensor to 39C did not critically affect the response. This is a very promising result for the bolus sensor.
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| Signal from pH electrode | Signal from Internal Reference electrode |
We would like to thank Katerina Theodoridou and Asad Javied for their help and kind hospitality on our visit!
