Biotechnology

Finding Pathogens Fast

The bioaerosol mass spectrometry (BAMS) system analyzes individual aerosol particles in real time. BAMS almost instantly identifies the presence and concentration of harmful biological particles. BAMS discerns the chemical composition and biological family of individual particles by using particle enrichment, aerodynamic focusing, aerodynamic size determination, induced-fluorescence characterization, and mass spectrometry. This integrated system is the most complete and versatile analytical tool to date.

The automated system allows the acquisition and analysis of hundreds of gigabytes of raw data about hundreds of thousands of single particles flowing into an instrument. Upon analysis, the system then displays a real-time description of what is present in the air. The system is designed to alarm automatically on four threats—spores, vegetative cells, toxins, and viruses—with a response time of less than a minute.

BAMS has been successfully tested in a modern battlefield environment at the National Training Center, located near Death Valley, CA. Future uses include the environmental monitoring of open-air burning and detonating of excess explosives and munitions, and the monitoring of single cells and human breath to detect infections and cancers.

Additional Information

• The BAMS system was a 2005 R&D 100 award winner.
• BAMS technology is available for industrial commercialization. See Industrial Partnerships Office.

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July 9, 2012