UC tiny heavy metal sensor

Sensors, sensors everywhere and not a drop to drink.  So what good is a really rapid sensor if you have send the sample to the laboratory to be tested.  Researchers at the University of Cincinnati have developed a sensor to detect heavy metals in humans.  Why?  well heavy metals are found in the soil and other places and sometimes they find their way into your bodies.  This is a special problem in young kids where heavy metals can cause all sorts of problems.  The sensor works with just a small drop of blood and a set of electrodes.  The metal is bound to the sensor and then stripped off by changing the voltage.  It is kind of like the way we electroplate metals on to different things like car bumpers only on a nanometer-scale