Continuous Detection of Pathogenic Bioaerosol Using Antibody Labelled Magnetic Beads and Flow Cytometry

Biogenic aerosols play a key role in various infectious diseases, like COVID-19 (virus) and Tuberculosis (bacteria). This fact makes detecting and characterizing bioaerosol, especially the pathogenic kind, crucial for human health. Traditional surveillance (via agar plates or PCR) of pathogenic bioaerosol is time and/or labor intensive. As staff in health-related sectors like hospitals is already limited, rapid and automated pathogenic bioaerosol monitoring is of dire need.

In this proof of concept study, we build and test a continuous pathogenic bioaerosol sampler and detector. The set-up consists of three main parts. In a first step (Collection phase), the bioaerosol is sampled via a particle into liquid sampler. This bioaerosol liquid flow is mixed continuously with antibodies for the relevant pathogen species, which are conjugated to magnetic nanobeads. From here the bioaerosol-antibody-bead flow is transported into a column, containing magnetic spheres. There the bioaerosol of interest is captured (Selection phase), stained and then released separately to be analyzed in a flow cytometer (Detection phase).

We are currently working to connect all three successfully tested phases into one continuous, automated, and autonomous instrument for pathogenic bioaerosol monitoring.