As an alternative to the pesticide treatments that rely on humans to act as bait by aspirating CO₂ as they sleep to attract the bed bugs, the team developed a device for emitting CO₂ dubbed the Infigenia — named for a princess from Greek mythology who is sacrificed to the goddess Artemis during the Trojan War.

The bed bug device has been tested in a lab with bed bugs. Source: David Callahan

Instead of using pesticide treatments that rely on someone sleeping in an infested room as living bait to lure the bedbugs, the device will draw out the bugs, keeping them from entering other rooms and thereby potentially reducing treatment times.

Eventually, the researchers are planning to outfit the device with an onboard camera for observing bed bug behavior.

"We're focused on the treatment of the infestation, and as far as we know there are no other technologies meant to attract and capture bed bugs as a means of treatment," the students explained.