EMERYVILLE, Calif., Aug. 17 -- Nanomix Inc., a nanotechnology company that is commercializing a line of nanoelectronic sensors for industrial and biomedical applications, announced today it has been awarded a $500,000 National Science Foundation (NSF) grant. The Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) award will be used to continue Nanomix's development of a medical capnography sensor. Capnography is the measurement of carbon dioxide concentration in human respiration and is typically used in the operating room during administration of anesthesia. During Phase I of the NSF SBIR project, Nanomix demonstrated a working prototype of a carbon dioxide sensor that uses carbon nanotubes as the active sensing element. The tiny, low-power sensor will be the first disposable electronic capnography sensor and has the potential to extend quantitative respiratory monitoring beyond the operating room and into emergency settings and doctors' offices. Alexander Star, principal investigator on the project, said, "The sensor embodies the critical advantages that nanotechnology brings to electronic applications: high performance and low cost in a tiny package." Nanomix is collaborating with researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Medical School on the design and testing of the sensor. Nanomix, based in Emeryville, Calif., was founded in September 2000 to develop and commercialize breakthroughs in sensing by integrating carbon nanotube transistors with silicon chips. For more information, visit: www.nano.com