Cell Phone Could Warn of Gas Leaks

A mobile phone able to warn against fire, leakage of methane or other types of toxic gas is the subject of a patent application that Marian Gavrila, a Romanian settled in Canada, submitted to the Canadian Intellectual Property Office. According to Gavrila, the phone includes a battery with sensors that provides periodical information about quick temperature changes, the presence of smoke, methane and carbon monoxide, which are compared by an internal device with pre-established normal values.

The alarm-telephone will not be much more expensive than a common one, as a sensor costs about 5-10 dollars and only the phone's software will be changed, Gavrila explains.

In the future, the mobile phones might also include biosensors, which will warn about the presence of bacteria, viruses, toxins, micro-organisms, radiations, nuclear particles and explosive powder, says Gavrila. Such a project should also take into account the high price of the biosensors of about 300 dollars. The biosensors are currently in the test phase."

Posted to the site on 25th July 2003