TRITON SYSTEMS, INC. — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: Biological agents pose high threats, because they are invisible and odorless and a relativ

Description

Biological agents pose high threats, because they are invisible and odorless and a relatively small amount can infect a large population when released in a densely populated area. For the same reasons, assuring safety after cleaning decontaminated sites can be challenging. Currently available technologies require considerable labor, and results typically cannot be obtained before 24 V 48 hours up to 7 days. Therefore, a system that can detect the effectiveness at a shorter period in a less labor-intensive manner can lessen the burdens of decontamination. Desired traits for such a system are: 1) suitable simulants for B. anthracis spores, 2) various materials for spore strips, 3) simple and rapid, 4) quantitative, and 5) portable. Our rapid and quantitative biological indicator system with B. thuringiensis spore strips will assess the viability of the spores quantitatively within 1 V 3 hours. The materials for spore strips will have various porosities and hydrophobicities. We expect that the size of the system will be 30 cm (W) e 25 cm (D) e 10 cm (H) with the weight around 3 kg. The power consumption should be less than 150 W.