A Voltammetric Electronic Tongue

When an array of sensors with partially overlapping selectivities is utilized, many information variables with low specificity on each variable are obtained. Even though the specificity of each variable is low, considerable information can be extracted through the combination of several selectivity classes. The information in the vast number of data material processed with the help of multivariate data analysis (MVDA). One sensor system using this technique is the voltammetric electronic tongue which was developed at Linköping University (Winquist et al., 1997). This sensor system can be used to measure foodstuffs in order to try to mimic the human tongue, as the name ‘electronic tongue’ suggests, but it is far from the only application. Often it is desirable to be able to differentiate between one good situation and all other possible (bad) situations. Examples of such applications include monitoring a factory process or a biological growth process to ensure that the process is going the way it is suppose to, or controlling liquid flows or sample reiteration to ensure the same quality through and between batches. Voltammetric methods provide high sensitivity, a wide linear range and simple, robust instrumentation.