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The proof-of-concept device was created by researchers from the McKelvey School of Engineering and the School of Medicine at Washington University…
The results are contained in a July 10 publication in Nature Communications that provides details about how the technology works.
The device holds promise as a breakthrough that - when commercially available - could be used in hospitals and health care facilities, schools, congregate living quarters, and other public places to help detect not only the SARS-CoV-2 virus, but other respiratory virus aerosol such as influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) as well.
“There is nothing at the moment that tells us how safe a room is,” Cirrito said, in the university’s news release. “If you are in a room with 100 people, you don’t want to find out five days later whether you could be sick or not. The idea with this device is that you can know essentially in real time, or every 5 minutes, if there is a live virus in the air.”
How It Works
The team combined expertise in biosensing with knowhow in designing instruments that measure the toxicity of air. The resulting device is an air sampler that operates based on what’s called “wet cyclone technology.” Air is sucked into the sampler at very high speeds and is then mixed centrifugally with a fluid containing a nanobody that recognizes the spike protein from the SARS-CoV-2 virus. That fluid, which lines the walls of the sampler, creates a surface vortex that traps the virus aerosols. The wet cyclone sampler has a pump that collects the fluid and sends it to the biosensor for detection of the virus using electrochemistry.
The success of the instrument is linked to the extremely high velocity it generates - the monitor has a flow rate of about 1,000 liters per minute - allowing it to sample a much larger volume of air over a 5-minute collection period than what is possible with currently available commercial samplers. It’s also compact - about one foot wide and 10 inches tall - and lights up when a virus is detected, alerting users to increase airflow or circulation in the room.
Testing the Monitor
To test the monitor, the team placed it in the apartments of two Covid-positive patients. The real-time air samples from the bedrooms were then compared with air samples collected from a virus-free control room. The device detected the RNA of the virus in the air samples from the bedrooms but did not detect any in the control air samples.
In laboratory experiments that aerosolized SARS-CoV-2 into a room-sized chamber, the wet cyclone and biosensor were able to detect varying levels of airborne virus concentrations after only a few minutes of sampling, according to the study.
“We are starting with SARS-CoV-2, but there are plans to also measure influenza, RSV, rhinovirus and other top pathogens that routinely infect people,” Cirrito said. “In a hospital setting, the monitor could be used to measure for staph or strep, which cause all kinds of complications for patients. This could really have a major impact on people’s health.”
The Washington University team is now working to commercialize the air quality monitor.”
-via Forbes, July 11, 2023
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Holy shit. I know it’s still early in the technology and more testing will inevitably be needed but holy shit.
Literally, if it bears out, this could revolutionize medicine. And maybe let immunocompromised people fucking go places again
Also, for those who don’t know, Nature Communications is a very prestigious scientific journal that focuses on Pretty Big Deal research. Their review process is incredibly rigorous. This is an absolutely HUGE credibility boost to this research and prototyp
This is incredible news with a massive amount of applications. It could be used in government buildings, movie theaters, classrooms, and grocery stores. It could be used in hospitals to monitor airborne viral amounts to help staff keep extremely precarious rooms like ICUs and laboratories better sterilized. RSV in particular is one of the worst respiratory diseases to strike infants and small children, so this would be especially useful in NICUs and pediatric units. Nursing homes would also be an excellent place to use this. A smaller, more commercially available version could be used in the near future to help confined spaces in public transportation like trains and ferries, even one day taxis and our own cars. Theme parks and restaurants would also only wildly benefit from such a technology to help protect both patrons and staff.
My next question is how would next steps be implemented and enforced. Rooms might have to be closed off from the public until they’re declared sterilized and safe. As for classrooms, the safe option might be to send everyone home, quarantine, and use remote learning until at least a full two weeks have gone by. The technology could even be expanded to include other common, highly contagious diseases like chickenpox. A similar contingency plan could be used for offices and workplaces that would allow for hybrid and remote options. Shit’s wild, yo.
One of the most important things to take away here is that this is an astronomically incredible tool to use in addition to masking, air filters, vaccines, and everything else we’ve been doing. COVID-19, influenza, and RSV won’t have silver bullet cures but they can be tackled via “death by a thousand cuts.” I also expect jobs could open up dedicated entirely to the maintenance of this technology, and therefore support the economy.
It’s going to take a continued team effort, but if we remain vigilant and use all the tools we have at our disposal, we can help save and preserve people’s lives and end this pandemic for good.
swallowing my cynicism long enough to be excited about the possibilities of this
