FeinSys: Entwicklung eines hochintegrierten, tragbaren Systems zur Echtzeit-Analyse der Umgebungsluft auf Feinstaub und spezifische Allergene (Pollen)

The aim of the project is to develop a miniaturised, fully automatic system for the real-time detection and analysis of airborne suspended particles in the form of fine dust and allergy-relevant pollen species in the ambient air. The aim is to achieve extreme miniaturisation compared to the state of the art. Nationwide there are about 12 to 16 million pollen allergy sufferers, the worldwide share is about 10-20 %.

In order to prevent allergic reactions in a targeted manner and to be able to optimally coordinate therapy measures, the respective local exposure profile is decisive. In order to determine the daily current pollen load, pollen information is collected from stationary measuring stations at around 45 locations in Germany. However, these measurements are strongly localized, so that predictions for distant locations are relatively inaccurate. Another problem is the exposure to locally high concentrations of harmful particulate matter and airborne pollutants.

Systems for the determination of pollen or fine dust concentrations on a small-scale or individual level are not yet available due to a lack of suitable measuring and instrument technology.