System for rapid on-site testing for airborne and other pathogens

Abstract

A simplified system for air sample collection and analysis for the presence of airborne pathogen is disclosed. An extraction device is used for extracting biomaterial previously deposited on the surface of a capture element of a sampling device, the capture element being of a select cross section and size. The extraction device comprises an upwardly opening head being wider at a top and narrower at a central opening at a bottom. An elongate cavity is attached to the enlarged head at the bottom extending downward from the head and closed at a bottom end to define an interior space, the cavity having a cross section corresponding to the cross section of the capture element and of a slightly larger size than the size of the capture element. An extraction fluid is in the cavity interior space. In use, insertion of the capture element through the head into the elongate cavity extrudes the extraction fluid liquid through the interface between the head and the elongate cavity and provides a fluidic shearing force that serves to solubilize biomaterial from the surface of the capture element.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.