Improving Performance of Odor Biosensor System Using Olfactory Receptor

Odor sensors based on olfactory receptors, which have high sensitivity and selectivity, have attracted much attention in recent years. We previously reported on the quantification of binary gas mixtures. To increase the number of components and the resolution of our odor biosensor system, it is necessary to improve the reproducibility and reduce the sensor response time. In this study, we examined the parameters related to the reproducibility and response time, such as the volume of liquid in the chamber channel, the flow rate of the buffer solution, and the pressure of the micro-dispenser, to improve the performance of the system. It was found that the response time was shortened by reducing the volume of liquid in the chamber and increasing the flow rate. It was also found that stable injection was achieved by adjusting the pressure applied to the micro-dispenser as a function of the drive frequency. We reduced the average response time of our system from 160 to 57 s. Moreover, we avoided an increase in the injection volume and droplet generation by applying appropriate pressures to the micro-dispenser.