SBIR-STTR Award

Rapid detection and identification of biological threats in air during field operations and in gaseus flow streams from swatch permeation test fixtures are critical to protect the warfighter, first responders and civilians from exposure to infectious biological agents. The focus of this proposal is to develop these capabilities based on a proprietary hand-portable gas chromatograph-toroidal ion trap mass spectrometer (GC-TMS) instrument that has been developed by Torion Technologies for chemical threat detection. The proposed technology will be capable of sampling and concentrating bacterial endospores from gaseous media such as air, converting the particles into unique chemical biomarkers that can be analyzed by the GC-TMS system, and determining the presence of any target endospores using sophisticated deconvolution and spectral matching algorithms that can isolate relevant GC profiles and MS fingerprints from irrelevant background biological and chemical interferences to construct reliable bacterial endospore signatures. Specifically, in this Phase I project, we will demonstrate the collection of bacterial endospores using a small, battery-operated two-stage particle impactor, generate reproducible chemical biomarker signatures from captured bacterial endospores using acid-catalyzed hydrolysis/methylation, and apply a new classification and discrimination algorithm that is robust to growth conditions for identifying bacterial endospores.

Keywords:
Biologicial Protection, Miniature Gc-Ms, Biological Threat Agent Detection, Endospore Detection, Thermal Hydrolysis/Methylation, Chemical Biomarkers, Differentiating Algorithm

This project proposes the development and optimization of a compact air sampler/reactor system for collection of bacterial endospores and conversion of them into semivolatile biological marker compounds for the rapid detection of target airborne pathogens. This involves the integration of a compact particle impactor with a heated reactor for conducting controlled thermochemolysis and methylation. Samples will be analyzed using a novel coiled wire sampling device for optional automatic transfer of sample from the reactor to a compact gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer. The biological marker compounds that will be targeted include dipicolinic acid, fatty acids, carbohydrates, and selected amines. The analytical system will be designed to be robust against non-target endospores, vegetative bacteria, environmental contaminants, and variations in bacterial growth conditions, such as growth media and temperature. A classification algorithm using a selected set of identified biological marker compounds will be used to rapidly discriminate between biological sources. The instrumentation, methodology, and classification algorithm will be used to determine the permeation rates of biological particles through military personal protective equipment and for sampling and detection of airborne biological particles in ambient air.

Keywords:
Biological Threat, Detection, Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (Gc-Ms), Bacillus Anthracis, Portable, Air Sampling, Spores, Biological Markers