Filter-feeding molluscs respond to water pollution in highly detectable and measurable ways. With this fact in mind, scientists have developed a commercial water quality monitoring system that uses electronically enhanced live mollusks as sensors.
Oysters, mussels, scallops, and clams filter plankton out of the water. And in order to accomplish that mission, they need to open their shells. However, the presence of contaminants in the water will affect how the opening opens. This is where the molluSCAN-eye system comes into play.
The technology originates from a 2006 study conducted by scientists at the French National Center for Science (CNRS) and the University of Bordeaux. It was later commercialized by spin-off company molluSCAN. Here’s how it works…
Each molluSCAN-eye unit incorporates a caged cluster of 16 filter-feeding mollusks native to the region. It is placed underwater at the monitoring site. The location could be a shipping port, sewage outlet, oil well platform, or almost any other location.
Each mollusk has two small electromagnets glued to each side of its shell. There is one magnet on one end and another magnet on the other end, and when you close the shell, the magnets make contact. Therefore, the wider the shell opens, the weaker the signals the magnets receive from each other.
soft body scan
Therefore, as the animal feeds throughout the day, the electromagnet can measure factors such as duration, maximum width, closing speed, and total number of shells opened.
That data is relayed to an adjacent hard-wired, waterproof electronics module, where it is processed by a Linux-based microcomputer. Among other things, shell-opening behavior is an indicator of the mollusc’s biological rhythms, daily growth, spawning cycles, daily excitability, and other factors that are affected to varying degrees by pollutants.
Processed data is relayed to another cable-connected surface-based module, from where it is sent to a cloud-based server. By accessing its servers from a smartphone or tablet, customers can see a real-time assessment of the water quality in their location.
soft body scan
According to molluSCAN, the non-invasive high-frequency valvemetry (HFNI) technology utilized by the system is 10 to 100 times more sensitive than traditional on-site water quality sensors, and is also much cheaper. Molluscs also continually clean themselves, so once installed they require little maintenance.
Approximately 90 molluSCAN-eye systems are currently in use by customers around the world. A new and improved version of this setup recently won a CES 2025 Innovation Award.
Source: molluSCAN
