Biosensor Testing to Go

A new instrument developed at MIT can rapidly detect various pathogens, including anthrax, ricin, smallpox, salmonella, and others. Images: Wikimedia Commons

Building on a biosensor technology created by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology more than a decade ago, an environmental testing bioscience firm has developed a portable, suitcase-style instrument that allows first responders to carry everything they need to test for pathogens on site.

The system can detect a virus, bacteria, or toxin on-site within three minutes. “We took a basic technology [and] hired a team of engineers to design and build an industrial-caliber instrument that we could take to the field,” says Ted Olsen, president of PathSensors, the company that developed the portable device.

After graduating with a degree in mechanical engineering, Olsen started his career designing production equipment that would press TV tubes, for example, or an extruder that would create substrates for automobile catalytic converters. Eventually, he ended up in the world of life sciences and leveraged his experience in basic equipment design building quality systems to turn basic technology into a customer-friendly product.

The Zephyr Pathogen Identifier. Image: PathSensors

Detecting Pathogens

“You can have great ideas and make things work at a lab level but you need a sound team of engineers with a track record of taking things that can work conceptually and [turn] them into something that works 365 days a year, hour after hour,” Olsen says.

Called the Zephyr, the system has applications for testing for food and agricultural safety (salmonella; E. coli, listeria; and hand, foot, and mouth disease), water and air quality (Legionnaire’s disease, MERS, MRSA, and Norovirus) and for possible biological attacks (anthrax and other biological warfare agents). It is expected to be used by first responders in emergency response as well as in mailrooms, buildings, border crossings, and food manufacturing.

The device incorporates CANARY (Cellular Analysis and Notification of Antigen Risks and Yields) sensor technology licensed from MIT into a system that individuals can use without the extensive training needed for such testing in a laboratory. CANARY can detect and identify pathogens in the air, in liquids and on surfaces, faster and with more sensitivity than conventional sensors. The Zephyr typically requires less than a half hour of operator training, says Olsen. He notes a user-friendly computer tutorial takes the operator through each step.

The MIT work sped up actual test time and increased the sensitivity of the sensor, requiring much less material than traditional sensors. But the original testing device was designed to be used in a laboratory and required extensive training, and any material to be tested had to travel to a local regional lab.

Olsen says some of the challenges in developing the device were to make sure the system had high reliability and could be repeated time after time, that it be easy to use and that it was rugged enough for any field conditions for first responders. “We had to find a way to have sensitive instrumentation in a small enclosure and build a user interface with a screen [for easy operation],” he says.

CANARY biosensor. Image: PathSensors

Real Time Benefits

PathSensors has been working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Food & Drug Administration to identify pathogens in poultry and plant materials, including at border crossings; with food manufacturers to test on-site at their factories and save considerable time; and with National Guard Civil Support Teams using technology that took four to six hours for results.

“Now the teams can take the system with them, take the sample and run it, and in five minutes get a result on the spot. Before, it took hours to get results back and until they had an indication of whether they were facing a significant situation or a false alarm, they couldn’t respond very well. If it shows there is a potential problem, they can start taking preventative actions, rather than holding the perimeter and waiting for results to come back later,” Olsen explains.

In addition to cutting down on delays, one food company estimated it will save $750,000 in labor and material costs because of faster results allowing them to release their products faster.

Olsen credits his engineering education with offering him the ability to succeed in various fields. “It’s a sound building block for how you work through unknowns, and teaches people a way to think,” he says. “Regardless of whether you want to go to medical school, be an attorney, be in the business world, be a design engineer or quality systems person, the logical thought process and problem-solving are applicable.”

Nancy S. Giges is an independent writer.

For Further Discussion

We had to find a way to have sensitive instrumentation in a small enclosure and build a user interface with a screen.

Ted Olsen,
president, PathSensors