SBIR Phase I: Development of an Optical Sensor for Instantaneous Detection of Bioaerosols

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will study the feasibility of an instrument capable of detecting biological agents instantaneously by measuring droplet sizes and the intrinsic fluorescence of biological material. The instrument will provide instantaneous measurements indoors and outdoors of the biological aerosols present in the environment with the use of long-range fluorescence excitation, which produces a multiphoton optical signal. It has been demonstrated in laboratory settings that a multiphoton florescence emission along with particle size could be a clear fingerprint for airborne biological material. A long range laser in the order of 800 nm will detect the micron size aerosol as it pass the sampling volume providing instantaneous measurements of intrinsic fluorescence and particle size. The particle size of the aerosol will be detected by measuring the intensity of eth elastic scattering of the laser. A compact micro-control system will drive all system components. Software will be developed to drive the micro-controller and quantify all the fluorescence measurements. The system will be configured so that it is compact, easy to use and reliable. The first generation of the product will target the stand-alone semi-portable system market. This Phase I project will provide design specifications for the indoor-outdoor air quality conditions, and biological terrorist attacks alarm system applications.