Portable and autonomous device to collect airborne particles in motion
Over 500 million people worldwide suffer allergy symptoms because of the exposure to pollen and fungal spores present in the atmosphere. Moreover, other organisms like bacteria, which may cause many diseases to people, animals and plants, are also transported in the air. As a result, we are breathing daily a huge load of biological particles potentially harmful for our own health.
AllerTrap allow collecting these particles in outdoor areas, where there is a major exposure. AllerTrap is designed for easy installation in any vehicle. The collection occurs in a passive way so a source of power is not needed. The analysis of the collected particles can be carried out by traditional methods of microscopy or molecular approaches. The trials performed with the prototype have shown promising results, especially for the identification of the biological particles by molecular techniques as DNA sequencing.
Only in Europe, around 20% of the population suffer some kind of allergy to pollen or fungal spores present in the atmosphere throughout the year. Moreover, other organisms like bacteria use the air as a mean for transportation and may cause different diseases as legionnaires’ disease or tuberculosis. These organisms not only may harmful to human beings but also to animal and plants, having important consequences for animal husbandry and agriculture at global scale. AllerTrap can easily collect this type of biological particles for further analyses and identification, either by microscopy and culture or by new molecular biology approaches. AllerTrap is an autonomous device (no power required), with a small size and a design especially developed to be coupled in any vehicle: car, bus, train, subway, UAVs,…
"There is a growing health interest on monitoring airborne biological particles in outdoor environments"
Contact AllerTrap
Andrés Núñez Hernández, Ana M. García Ruiz, Diego A. Moreno Gómez
ETSI Industriales - UPM
e: diego.moreno@upm.es
UPM contact
Innovation, Commercialization and Entrepreneurship Area
Centre of Support for Technological Innovation – UPM
e: innovacion.tecnologica@upm.es