Research
Biological Warfare
Anthrax Dectectors Are Coming
 10-30-2001
A researcher working under an Office of Naval Research grant
is just a couple of months away from completing a prototype
detector designed to sound the alarm when airborne microbes
such as anthrax are in the air.
Dr. Jeanne Small, a biophysicist and professor of chemistry
and biochemistry at Eastern Washington University in
Cheney,
Wash., has come up with a detector that continuously samples
the air, offering analysis in under a half-hour. "Our research
showed that common substances such as road dust and soot
behaved differently than bacteria," Small said.
Dr. Small has successfully tested biological particles ranging
in size from 1 to 10 microns by using lasers and acoustic
sensors to detect and identify microbes. In the research,
laser pulses were used to excite light-absorbing substances
that release energy as heat. Heat-induced solvent expansion
generated sound waves, which were measured by an ultrasonic
transducer. |
|
Working
with Dr. Small is InnovaTek (http://www.tekkie.com), a Richland,
Wash., company that makes the air sampler, and Quantum Northwest
(http://www.qnw.com) in Spokane, Wash., is building the sensor
component.
Note:
This story on anthrax detectors has been adapted from a news release
issued by Office Of Naval Research for journalists and other members
of the public. If you wish to quote from any part of this story
on anthrax, please credit Office Of Naval Research as the original
source. This article was taken from Science Daily, www.sciencedaily.com.
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