GE scientists develop battery-free, multi-detection wireless sensors

October 15, 2008: GE Global Research, the technology development arm of the General Electric Co., has announced a battery-free, multi-detection radio-frequency identification (RFID) sensing platform that could enable a wide range of low cost wireless sensing products in healthcare, security, food packaging, water treatment and pollution prevention. GE’s unique RFID sensors are built on traditional RFID tags.

This “first-of-its-kind” sensing platform, in which a single sensor can provide a highly selective response to multiple chemicals under variable conditions, operates without a battery. GE’s sensor technology overcomes limitations in today’s sensors such as inadequate response selectivity and the need for an on-board power source. Without a battery, new sensors can be designed to be smaller than a penny and manufactured at very low cost.


A picture of an RFID sensor. Without a battery, sensors can be designed to be 1 cm or less in diameter, which is smaller than a penny, manufactured at very low cost and which could enable a wide range of low cost wireless sensing products in healthcare, security, food packaging, water treatment and pollution prevention.

Radislav Potyrailo, a principal scientist at GE Global Research who leads this multidisciplinary wireless sensing development team, said, “We believe GE’s battery-free wireless sensing platform will be a game-changer across many product platforms in healthcare, security, water and pollution prevention, to name a few. Without the need for batteries, we can make sensors that are much smaller in size and at substantially reduced costs. These attributes, combined with the sensors’ highly selective chemical and bio sensing capabilities, provide new breakthrough sensing opportunities that will open the door to many new, innovative applications.”

These new RFID sensors use a conventional RFID tag, but are coated with a chemically or biologically sensitive film. The sensor reader can obtain several varied responses, which allows the sensor to identify and measure individual chemicals in different mixtures and variable conditions. GE’s sensors can detect trace concentrations of toxic gases such as toxic industrial chemicals (TICs), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and chemicals in liquids.

To operate without batteries, the power is obtained wirelessly from the sensor reader. The reader activates the sensor antenna and the RFID chip and collects several response data parameters. The measurement of these parameters provides the ability to selectively detect different chemicals with an individual sensor.

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