A System And Method For Dispensing Fluid in Response To A Sensed Property

My patent related to wearable items that dispense fluid if ambient sounds are sensed within a predetermined range or above or below a determined level and frequency. My patent and research was presented at an Institute of Nanotechnology conference at the Royal Society in December 2004 on ‘New Technologies and Smart Textiles for Industry and Fashion’, having previously been made a Fellow of the Institute. Professor Andreas Manz, a pioneer of lab-on-a-chip and Head of the Institute for Analytical Sciences supervised Dr Gareth Jenkins, my co-inventor.

My patent is the first to be registered in my patent portfolio and is part of a long-term project to create wearable, wireless sensor networks and microfluidic devices for fragrance delivery in ‘emotional clothing’. The patent stems from my work experience in the healthcare sector (geriatric and psychiatric care and people living with HIV and AIDS).

My patent is novel because it addressed a miniaturised system that dispensed an atomised spray via microfluidics, controlled by a microchip and activated by a microphone that detected the noise frequency of mosquitos. The process described can deliver nano-litre droplets of repellent, targeted towards an insect, in a localised, non-invasive way, eliminating the need to apply DEET onto the skin. The system can be effective for long periods of time and can be used at difficult-to-protect parts of the body.

Jenny Tillotson

Research Interests

Applying novel ways to create fashion, textiles and interactive structures, by introducing responsive effects that changes the experience of fragrance to a more intimate communication of identity, using the olfaction as a communication tool, with a focus on the relationship between Aromachology and wellbeing.

Current Research

Interdisciplinary Sensory Designer working with our most primitive sense (olfaction). Researching a new wave of sensory systems that identifies a new method of aroma delivery, by bridging the gap between imagineering and implementation, and seeking to better understand and evaluate the opportunities for enhancing the human condition, opened up by the advancement of technology.

Senior Research Fellow at Central Saint Martins (CSM), in the field of fashion, textiles, wellbeing and sustainability, leading the ‘Scentsory Design®’ initiative, with a strong design awareness to meet peoples needs, stemming from work experience in the healthcare sector (geriatric, psychiatric care and people living with HIV and AIDS), and developing design-led wearable technologies, wireless sensor networks and microfluidic devices for fragrance delivery and therapeutic applications in emotional, functional clothing and jewellery.

Significant contributor to the field of ‘Scentsory’ design-led wearable technologies, as a new vehicle for the delivery of treatment from psychological conditions, but also to help understand our emotions (75% of the emotions that we generate on a daily basis are affected by smell) and the art behind the science.

Leadership experience at the cutting edge of aroma and healthcare, by converging emerging technologies with the ancient art of perfumery, to create a new sustainable platform that breaks the tradition of fragrance delivery (via precisely metered responsive fragrance and targeted delivery and release which replaces the relatively crude, unmetered technology of the twentieth century).

Fashion communicator combining applied theories about human wellbeing with multi-sensory design, to create experimental strategies to improve self and social confidence for individuals suffering from depressive illnesses. The range of methodologies employed extend beyond the academic realm of fashion and design, to areas such as neuroscience, gerontology, human sensory systems and affective states, psychiatry, entomology, wireless communications, chemistry and the growing trend of Complementary Medicine (CAM).