Two portable instruments for
the detection of bioterrorism agents, developed through a joint
effort between the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) and Research
International of Woodinville, Washington, were used and evaluated
by the Seattle Fire Department during last December's World Trade
Organization meeting.
While no acts of bioterrorism
occurred during the Seattle meetings, local Hazardous Materials
Response Teams maintained the equipment for rapid deployment,
which would have allowed them to collect samples from air, exposed
surfaces or from water sources and determine, within 10 to 15
minutes, if a biological risk existed.
The first device, the Smart Air Sampler System (SASS) 2000, is
a lightweight, low-power, portable air sampler capable of concentrating
airborne particles by several hundred thousand times into a small
amount of water. The SASS samples or manually collected samples
can then be tested in the second device, the RAPTOR.
The RAPTOR is a versatile, portable
(12-pound) biosensor that can detect the presence of minute
concentrations
of viruses, bacteria, and toxins in liquid samples. It is a completely
self-contained instrument that integrates optics, fluidics, electronics,
and software into one compact system for laboratory and field
assays. RAPTOR runs highly specific antibody-based assays in
a disposable cartridge the size of a credit card. Each cartridge
is reusable until a positive response is detected.
After the WTO adjourned, local
HAZMAT teams in Seattle successfully tested the biosensor using
a benign simulant. In a later debriefing, Seattle authorities
indicated that the equipment met their requirements for functionality
and user friendliness, noting that first responder groups across
the country need portable instruments of this type to meet the
threat of bioterrorism.
Tools like RAPTOR and SASS will
be invaluable for emergency personnel who may be called upon
to make rapid decisions affecting the fate of large urban populations,
notes Research International CEO, Elric Saaski. He notes that
the availability of portable and rapid biosensors will aid first
responders immeasurably each incidence of a bioterrorism
threat must be considered real, and weighing the cost per response,
there is a critical need to separate hoaxes from the real thing
at the earliest point possible.
The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory is the Navy's full-spectrum corporate laboratory, conducting a broadly based multidisciplinary program of scientific research and advanced technological development. The Laboratory, with a total complement of nearly 2,500 personnel, is located in southwest Washington, D.C., with other major sites at the Stennis Space Center, Miss., and Monterey, Calif. NRL has served the Navy and the nation for over 85 years and continues to meet the complex technological challenges of today's world. For more information, visit the NRL homepage or join the conversation on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.
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