Acoustofluidic Virus Isolation via Bessel Beam Excitation Separation Technology

Area of Science:

• Biotechnology
• Virology
• Acoustics

Background:

• Virus isolation is crucial for developing viral therapeutics and vaccines, as highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Current viral isolation methods are often slow, labor-intensive, and yield low amounts of virus.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel, rapid, and efficient acoustofluidic technology for high-resolution virus isolation.
• To demonstrate the capability of Bessel beam excitation separation technology (BEST) for isolating viruses from complex biological samples.

Main Methods:

• Utilized 2D, in-plane acoustic Bessel beams for continuous separation of cell-free viruses from biofluids.
• Employed Bessel beam excitation separation technology (BEST) for size-selective virus isolation by tuning acoustic parameters.
• Applied BEST to isolate SARS-CoV-2 from saliva and Moloney Murine Leukemia Virus from cell culture media.

Main Results:

• Achieved high throughput and high viral RNA yield in virus isolation.
• Demonstrated dynamic, size-selective isolation, effectively removing larger and smaller contaminants.
• Obtained high separation resolution, yield, and purity of isolated viruses.

Conclusions:

• BEST offers a powerful tool for rapid and efficient virus isolation from complex biological samples.
• This technology shows significant potential for advancing viral diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccine development.
• BEST is applicable to both practical diagnostic applications and fundamental virology research.