Researchers Create Device That Detects Mass Of A Single Virus Particle
Researchers at Purdue University have developed a miniature device sensitive enough to detect a single virus particle, an advancement that could have many applications, including environmental-health monitoring and homeland security.
The work, funded by the National Institutes of Health, is aimed at developing advanced sensors capable of detecting airborne viruses, bacteria and other contaminants. Such sensors will have applications in areas including environmental health monitoring in hospitals and homeland security. The device is a tiny "cantilever," a diving board-like beam of silicon that naturally vibrates at a specific frequency. When a virus particle weighing about one-trillionth as much as a grain of rice lands on the cantilever, it vibrates at a different frequency, which was measured by the Purdue researchers.