Array-to-array transfer of an artificial nose classifier.

This paper describes the use of a microsphere sensor technology that allows simple fabrication of vapor sensor arrays with reproducible response patterns. Microsphere sensor fabrication protocols are uncomplicated and yield billions of highly reproducible sensors. Microsphere sensor arrays combined with a generalized Whitney-Mann-Wilcoxen (GWMW) classifier were used to discriminate between the presence and absence of nitroaromatic compounds in high background vapor mixtures. The classifier was trained on one sensor array and then used to obtain 98.2 and 93.7% correct classification rates with data collected using two subsequent arrays made up to six months after the initial training was performed. These results represent an advance in the ability to transfer training data between multiple sensor arrays with a fluorescence-based artificial nose.