Advanced Bioaerosol Sampler for Continuous Surveillance

Many integrated biodetection systems require an aqueous sample, with the notable exception being those based on mass spectrometry which frequently uses a dry sample (MALDI or pyrolysis). The proposed air sampling system (BioXC) to be developed is amenable to dry or nearly dry sample collection, but can deliver a final sample in an aqueous format autonomously. The automated system will filter out particles larger than 10 microns, concentrate and collect particles between 1 and 10 microns, and elute the sample to a small volume of liquid (<1 ml). Furthermore, the proposed system offers significant operating and cost advantages relative to more conventional wet-walled cyclones in use today for homeland security and military applications. Another common sampling technique in use today is dry filtering, but this approach is not amenable to fully-autonomous operation. Several subsystems will be optimized and developed to provide pre-filtration, concentration, collection, and elution. These subsystems will be integrated into an autonomous system which performs dry collection of aerosols with automated elution of the sample for analysis. This integrated system will result in a sampler that can be integrated with a broad range of advanced bio-detection technologies including mass spectrometry, microchip arrays, PCR and immunoassays.