SBIR/STTR Award attributes
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the critical need for detectors for aerosolized pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2. While point-of-care (POC) diagnostics (e.g., portable molecular or immunoassay tests) for infection have helped increase the number of people tested for COVID-19, it would be highly advantageous to detect the virus before it infects an individual, while it is still airborne. Early detection can help control outbreaks; however, no rapidly deployable detectors for airborne SARS-CoV-2 currently exist. We propose to develop a sensitive and specific bioaerosol detection platform (collector + sensor) that can identify airborne SARS-CoV-2 in under 1 hour from air sample to answer. By sampling ambient air, the instrument will make it possible to surveille large venues (e.g., mass transit stations, gyms, military barracks) to warn people of the potential for virus exposure. This is a critical advance since common screening tools (e.g., measuring individual body temperatures) miss the large number of asymptomatic people spreading the virus. The front-end of the instrument will incorporate condensation growth tube (CGT) technology, developed by Aerosol Devices Inc, to gently collect and concentrate nearly all virus particles from
