Towards Real-Time Identification of Pathogenic Bioaerosols

Josh Santarpia - University of Nebraska Medical Center, UNMC

16:15 - 16:30 Wednesday 10 June Afternoon

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Abstract

Automated identification of biological aerosols is a currently a multi-step process that involves the collection of particles from the environment, extraction of biological analytes from the collected material and subsequent analysis by either identifying proteins or nucleic acids (NA) associated with known agents of concern. Typically, these systems have been used to detect specific pathogens in order to provide warning of an attack with a biological weapon, and not to provide real-time data to improve public health. The limitations of the current approaches are severalfold. Aerosol is collected over long periods of time (typically hours, bioanalytes are extracted in batches and then tested using techniques like polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or immunoassays. This process requires both time and reagents. Optical bioaerosols systems were originally developed as a replacement for these systems, however, no optical technology is currently capable of confidently discriminating pathogens from non-pathogens, much less confidently identifying organisms at the species level, outside of the laboratory. In this effort we demonstrate a new paradigm for the identification of bioaerosols by continuously collecting, processes and biochemically analyzes bioaerosols moving traditional bio-identification technology closer to the time resolution of optical systems. In this work, we have integrated a multi-stage virtual impactor with a condensation growth tube collector to provide high volume air-to-liquid collection into 50-100 µL volume. The hydrosol is then continuously transferred, via microfluidics, for continuous nucleic acid extraction and electrochemical analysis, resulting in sample to initial detection times of only a few minutes.

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