NON-TECHNICAL ABSTRACT People with COVID-19 can spread the disease through droplets expelled when coughing. There is also a possibility that infection of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 can be spread through smaller droplets, called aerosols, released by simply speaking or breathing. While larger droplets quickly fall to the ground, these smaller sized aerosols can stay in the air for longer and travel distances far greater than six feet. This is especially concerning because infected people with no or mild symptoms could unknowingly be contributing to the spread of COVID-19. Airborne SARS-CoV-2 aerosols have important implications for healthcare workers and people that work in proximity to the public, such as grocery clerks or transit workers. One way to test a person?s risk for infection is to determine the amount of virus in the air around them. This project will develop a low-cost wristband made from a soft silicone rubber that can be used to rapidly detect a person?s exposure to airborne SARS-CoV-2 aerosols. This wristband?s collection efficiency will be determined in our lab, and the ability to detect airborne viruses in a real-world setting will be tested with healthcare workers in a hospital COVID-19 patient ward. The simple design of the wristband could shape how COVID-19 infection is assessed. This research is critical, as cases in the US peak and we prepare for a possible second wave of infections as shelter in place orders are eased. Results from this project will be shared with hospital networks and more broadly with public health organizations. Wristbands will also be given to elementary school children during cold and flu season to test for SARS-CoV-2 and other airborne viruses as part of a learning module on the spread of respiratory viruses.
This RAPID proposal concerns the urgent need for monitoring levels of airborne SARS-CoV-2-laden aerosol as a critical strategy for assessing an individual?s risk of infection and identifying hotspots of exposure. The PI's vision is to develop a wearable, low-cost, highly deployable sampling device called the Fresh Air wristband. The envisioned device would passively concentrate airborne constituents onto a polymeric membrane sorbent bar while being worn. The critical component is the composition of this membrane, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based material, which was chosen given its efficient sorption of non-polar compounds that potentially include lipid enveloped viruses, such as SARS-CoV-2. An important focus of this project is identification of the physical properties and specific configuration of PDMS-based materials appropriate for a passive sampler, useful for simple and rapid exposure assessment of airborne SARS-CoV-2-laden aerosols. The goal of this NSF RAPID project is to develop a wearable low-cost environmental sampling device for detecting personal SARS-CoV-2 exposure to inform individuals of their potential risk of COVID-19 infection by determining the sorption characteristics of PDMS. The urgent nature of this work stems from the need to limit exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in order to decrease the incidence of new cases, especially in health care and other high-risk workers. Specific research objectives include the following: (1) Determine the size-resolved efficiency of viral collection on the PDMS-based sampler, and (2) Demonstrate utility of the Fresh Air sampler to assess health care providers? exposure to airborne SARS-CoV-2. The major outcomes of this research project include an inexpensive exposure assessment tool and a rapid portable test protocol that individuals or groups can use to protect their health. Project results will be disseminated by sharing exposure data and sampler design with stakeholders at the Yale New Haven Hospital and more broadly to other hospital networks. To increase participation, the PI plans to introduce wristbands into a 5th grade New Haven Public School class during the traditional cold and flu season, analyze for Rhinovirus exposure, and develop and nationally distribute a learning module on the transmission of respiratory viruses, including SARS-CoV-2.
This Rapid Response Research (RAPID) grant supports research that will develop a wearable low-cost environmental sampling device for detecting personal SARS-CoV-2 exposure with funding from the CARES Act managed by the Condensed Matter Physics Program in the Division of Materials Research of the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
