Searching for bed bugs: The design, development, and evaluation of an oscillator-based trans-2-hexenal sensor array

Abstract

• The detection of urban pests has economic and human health implications. • The sensing of trans-2-hexenal vapor is important for bed bug detection. • Functional chemistries are developed to detect the analyte of interest. • Resonant sensing provides a sensitivity of 4.8 ppm/Hz to this analyte. • Further improvements in sensitivity and selectivity can be realized. The detection of urban pests, such as bed bugs, has economic and human health implications. The current methods of insect detection leveraged in daily practice include visual inspection; passive interception devices, such as sticky traps; and active monitoring traps, which exude odors that the insects are attracted to. This paper describes recent advancements related to the resonant sensing of trans-2-hexenal vapor, which offers practical utility in bed bug detection. The described sensing system includes a resonant element that is more sensitive than those reported in prior work. The work also details the method by which the functional chemistries were developed, efficiently screened, and evaluated using a multi-channel resonant sensing approach.