Aerosol Collection into Small Liquid Volumes for Biological Assays

Detection systems for aeropathogens require the concentration of airborne particles from large volumes of air into small volumes of liquid. This proposal addresses this need through droplet encapsulation of airborne particles, with subsequent capture into a microliter-sized collection reservoir. Droplet encapsulation is accomplished through our company¿s proven, patented growth tube technology. The encapsulation occurs rapidly, within 5 milisecs, by condensational growth in region of water vapor supersaturation. The supersaturation is created in a thermally-diffusive laminar flow. No steam or temperature extremes are required. The final droplet size can be controlled, and for small particles is independent of the initial particle size. In Phase 1 this approach will be explored for the collection of 0.5 µm to 10 µm particles from an air flow of 10 L/min into liquid volumes of 30 µL or less. Results will be used to assess the power, size and performance to be expected for a Phase 2 system that will be scaled to air flow rates of 100 L/min.