BioHawk Plus:
Air Concentrator PLUS
8-Channel Bioidentification System

• Counter-terrorism
• Epidemiology
• Agriculture
• Food processing air quality
• Medical facility air quality
• Homeland security
• Power plant

• BioHawk Plus Data Sheet
  
• Power Measurements and Battery Life Estimates
  
• Candidate Disinfectants for Research International Products
  
• Bluetooth Biolink™ Wireless Units provide plug-and-play wireless communication between any Research International product and a remote PC or laptop.

Principles of Operation

The SASS 4000 continuously samples over 3500 liters/minute of ambient air. Air flows radially inward into the concentrator through a coarse square-mesh screen. This inward radial flow provides 360 degree sampling of the surrounding aerosol environment. The primary fan and a curved air shroud are mounted above the sampler inlet section, channeling exhaust air into a vertical stream away from the inlet area.

Particulates in this air stream are transferred to a much smaller secondary air stream using patent-pending centrifugal and virtual impaction principles. Particles are routed into the secondary flow by forcing primary circuit air to circulate through specially shaped channels where centrifugal force and particle momentum isolate and concentrate the particles.
The secondary flow can reach aerosol concentrations that are 4X to 15X higher than present in the incoming air, yet the velocity of this secondary aerosol concentrate flow is much lower than peak velocities in the primary circuit. The two-stage sampler therefore amplifies and slows down the captured ambient aerosol particles prior to their collection.

Due to advantageous pressure differentials within the device, one fan drives both the primary and secondary flows.

This secondary airflow is then routed, via a hose connection, into the integrated wetted-wall aerosol collector of the BioHawk® 8-channel bioassay system. Particulates are captured and concentrated in the collector operating fluid. Next, the concentrated sample is automatically transferred to the biodetector portion It is suitable for high-sensitivity monitoring of biological agents, toxins, explosives, and chemical contaminants. Assay results are typically available in 20 minutes.. Alternatively, a Sample Port may be used to introduce liquid samples for analysis from external sources, either manually or under software control. A built-in microcomputer provides unparalleled operating flexibility and sophistication.

Bioassays are performed within a small disposable credit card-sized plastic assay coupon using a ‘sandwich format’ fluoroimmunoassay protocol. Unlike other assay technologies that are based on a "use once and discard" philosophy, this coupon and the reagents stored within it may be used for 10 or more assay procedures before being discarded. Since a single assay coupon can handle up to eight different analytes simultaneously, this means that up to 80 individual assays may be performed before discarding or removing the coupon. This capability simplifies field use and substantially reduces life cycle cost.
Although sophisticated and versatile, the unit is still very easy to use. Most global functions such as air sampling and bioidentification are performed using multi-step recipes developed by Research International and stored in the system's computer memory. Users need only the most fundamental level of training since the internal processes and steps are preset through the built-in computerized recipes. For more professional users, bundled Windows-based software allows the user to develop their own customized sample collection and detection protocols.

Figure 3: BioHawk bioassay coupon.