Our Science – validated and accurate

Nima, the world’s first connected food sensor, and was born out of MIT and engineered and developed by people who have food sensitivities and allergies. Nima’s proprietary technology uses antibody-based chemistry to rapidly detect proteins in foods. The technology is packaged in a portable and easy-to-use format so you can let Nima take the first bite of your meal before you do.

How It Works – a lab in your pocket

Each Nima capsule is packed with science, including antibodies, a test strip, and a liquid extraction formula. As the test strip develops, an electronic sensor and associated algorithm detect the test result. Reading the results electronically reduces the likelihood of misinterpreting results. The sensing algorithm is improved and updated via Bluetooth connection through the Nima mobile app. The algorithm can be updated by downloading the latest firmware updates from the app. In less than five minutes, Nima will provide results.

Nima validation and accuracy

The Nima system has been rigorously tested in the lab, in the field and via third parties over thousands of tests. The findings have also been published in peer-reviewed journals. When compared to leading food lab ELISA tests, Nima is 97% accurate at detecting levels of 20 parts per million (ppm) and above for gluten and 10ppm and above for peanut.

Nima does ongoing testing. Every manufactured lot of Nima test capsules is tested for quality.

Gluten Validation

Peer reviewed validation report on the performance of Nima’s system on various foods A full report on the efficacy of the Nima Gluten Sensor conducted by the Nima R&D team (results referenced above) was published in Food Chemistry journal.

A full report on the efficacy of the Nima Gluten Sensor as conducted by the Food Allergy Research and Resource Program (FARRP) was published in the The Journal of Food Protection. You can watch a webinar on the testing methodology and results here.

Peanut Validation

The Nima Research & Development team conducted thousands of tests across numerous foods to confirm the sensitivity of the device. In addition to in house testing, Nima also enlisted the help of several third party labs. Link to the studies here.

Nima’s Test Capsule

What’s inside the capsule?

Test strip. You use a disposable capsule to test food with Nima. The capsule contains a test strip preloaded with our antibodies. The antibodies will bind to the protein and present a signal change on the strip that is detected by Nima’s proprietary processing algorithm.

Liquid extraction buffer. In order to detect the protein in food, the protein molecules need to be isolated and extracted from the rest of the food molecules.

The fluid inside the capsule extraction is capable of breaking apart the bonds between the protein and other food molecules, leaving the protein itself in a liquid solution, which reacts to the strip.

The sensor. As the test strip develops, an electronic sensor and associated algorithm detect the test result. Reading the result electronically eliminates the need for a trained operator to be evaluating the results and reduces the likelihood of misinterpreting results. The algorithm is improved and updated via Bluetooth connection through the Nima mobile app. The algorithm can be updated by downloading the latest firmware updates from the app.