ENVIRONMENTAL BIOSENSOR FOR MEASURING AIR CONTAMINANTS

摘要

The invention concerns a biosensor comprising: a source (15) of cell culture for immune defence of the human organism, such as alveolar monocytes and macrophages, sensitive to said air contaminants; a probe for drawing (31, 32) working samples representing the contaminated atmosphere, and for delivering the samples in the form of a gas flow with controlled flow rate; an exposure cell (1) defining a sealed chamber (7) to be swept by a gas stream and whereof the base (2), made of a translucent material, receives in the form of a liquid sheet (9) in contact with said gas stream, said culture; means for rinsing (42, 45) said exposure cell base (2); and a system (3, 4, 5, 46, 47, 48, 39) for examining and displaying the cell base to produce images revealing the behavioural modifications of the monocytes and macrophages, for examples those concerning their mobility towards an attracting chemical agent deposited on said base (2) for this purpose. The invention is useful for fast and dependable characterisation of the harmfulness of air contaminants on human health.