SBIR Phase II: New devices Bioaerosol Sampler for Accurate, Time-Resolved Characterization of Viable Microbes and their Genomes

这个小型企业创新研究（SBIR）项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是提供新一代经济实惠的高效气溶胶采样器的一般商业访问，这些采样器将主要用于工业卫生和室内空气质量市场。 这些新仪器中的收集技术是独一无二的，因为它可以捕获、浓缩和保存空气中的微生物，使它们处于与我们呼吸的空气中悬浮的相同的物理状态-这是法医气溶胶分析的一个巨大突破。 这项工作优化了一种新颖的收集方法，该方法按时间顺序将空气样本分解到便携式紧凑平台中，从而确保纯度，最大限度地减少处理，并且可以安全邮寄。 样品输出采用小型无菌医用级一次性塑料，可满足广泛的用户分析需求，无论是军事、医疗保健、大气研究人员还是室内空气质量部门。 这种仪器是便携式的，不需要过滤器或化学添加剂;它通过控制湿度快速冷凝环境空气中的空气微生物，为评估室内或室外的微生物空气污染提供了可靠的方法。 该SBIR第二阶段项目旨在优化基于冷凝生长的生物气溶胶采样器的设计，以实现商业验证，快速制造和高质量复制。 准确评估气载生物制剂仍然是一个巨大的科学和实际挑战。 这项工作的智力价值在于最终克服了传统空气采样设备造成的技术障碍，这些设备需要大量的采样时间，并大大损害了军事，医学和建筑科学专业人员所需要的信息：空气微生物的身份，分布和丰度。 该团队将使用最新的法医基因测序技术，分离出这种新型采集设备对常见空气传播病原体和过敏原的检测极限。 目的是在受控实验室实验中验证这些新的无过滤器气溶胶回收仪器，并使用广泛的常见致病性生物气溶胶。 该团队将展示如何实现该技术的样本保存优势，以实现监测高密度室内环境（包括医疗机构和公立学校）的商业利益。 在有人居住的室内空间操作这种新设备，我们预计在不到30分钟的时间内收集超过法医检测极限的生物气溶胶，同时保持出色的样品保真度。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project is to provide general commercial access to a new generation of affordable, high-efficiency aerosol samplers that will primarily be used in the Industrial Hygiene and Indoor Air Quality market. The collection technology in these new instruments is unique in that it captures, concentrates and preserves airborne microbes in the same physical state they exist as they are suspended in the air we breathe- a tremendous breakthrough for forensic aerosol analysis. This work optimizes a novel collection method that chronologically resolves air samples into a portable compact platform, which ensures purity, minimizes handling and is safe for mail. The sample output is delivered in small, sterile medical grade disposable plastics that are compatible with a broad range of users' analytical needs whether it be the military, health care, atmospheric researchers or indoor air quality sector. This instrumentation is portable, and requires no filters or chemical additions; it rapidly condenses airborne microbes out of ambient air by manipulating humidity, offering a reliable way to assess microbiological air pollution-indoors or out. This SBIR Phase II project proposes to optimize the design of condensation growth-based bioaerosol samplers for commercial validation, rapid manufacture and high-quality reproduction. The accurate assessment of airborne biological agents remains a tremendous scientific and practical challenge. The intellectual merit of this work lies in finally overcoming the technical barriers posed by conventional air sampling equipment, which require extensive sampling time and significantly compromises the very information military, medical and building science professionals need: what is the identity, distribution and abundance of airborne microbes. This team will use the latest forensic genetic sequencing technology to isolate the detection limits of this new collection equipment for common airborne pathogens and allergens. The objective is to validate these new filterless aerosol recovery instruments in controlled laboratory experiments, with a broad range of common pathogenic bioaerosols. The team will demonstrate how the sample preservation benefits of this technology, can be realized for commercial benefit in monitoring high-density indoor environments, including health care settings and public schools. Operating this new equipment in occupied indoor spaces, we anticipate collecting bioaerosol in excess of forensic detection limits in less than 30 minutes, while maintaining exceptional sample fidelity.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.