Realtime Detection and Classification of Single Biowarfare Viruses

该项目的目标是开发一种光学检测计划，用于检测用于生物武器和潜在恐怖袭击的超微量病毒。由于病毒的体积很小，用现有的技术无法在单个颗粒水平上实时检测到病毒。该方案基于弹性光散射和差分干涉技术。微流控通道通过紧密聚焦的激光束传输病毒和其他颗粒，散射场和初级激光场之间的干涉由分裂的光电二极管监测。干涉检测将与荧光或拉曼散射等同步光谱测量相结合。该光谱信息与干涉信号相结合将为待检测的颗粒提供高度特异的指纹和检测阈值。该装置将实时工作，并具有单粒子灵敏度，这对于及早识别和跟踪恐怖威胁至关重要。

The objective of this project is the development of an optical detection scheme for the detection of ultrasmall amounts of viruses used in biowarfare and in potential terrorist attacks. Because of their small size, viruses cannot be detected with existing techniques in real-time and on a single particle level. The proposed scheme is based on elastic light scattering and differential interferometry. A microfluidic channel transports viruses and other particles through a tightly focused laser beam and the interference between the scattered field and the primary laser field is monitored by a split photodiode. The interferometric detection will be combined with simultaneous spectroscopic measurements such as fluorescence or Raman scattering. This spectroscopic information in combination with the interferometric signal will provide a highly specific fingerprint and detection threshold for the particle to be detected. The device will work in real-time and with single-particle sensitivity which is of critical importance for the early recognition and tracking of terrorist threats.