Magnetic Concentrator & Cartridge System to Enhance Food Safety

Foodborne pathogen detection has always been faced with volume and matrix problems, i.e., low numbers of viral or bacterial pathogens in a large volume of solid or liquid foods that are still potentially infectious. Despite sensitive techniques such as PCR and immunomagnetic-electrochemiluminescence (IM-ECL), there still exists a need to concentrate and semi-purify pathogens from large (liter) volumes of foodstuffs. To address this need, Operational Technologies Corporation (OpTech) intends to couple proven rapid and highly efficient immunomagnetic separator technology (IMAS), that was previously developed to detect pathogens in blood for USAMRDC, to its newer magnetically assisted test strip (MATS) concept. By the end of Phase II, OpTech will deliver a compact version of IMAS, for preliminary concentration of liter volumes of fluids and solid (minced) suspensions, that will be subsequently ultra-purified by the MATS cartridge. The MATS will allow simultaneous multiple sample (5-10 samples) detection and analysis by PCR, IM-ECL, or other techniques of choice by the U.S. military and civilian sector.