On-site bioaerosol sampling and detection in microfluidic platforms

As the recent coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and several severe illnesses such as Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), Influenza A virus (IAV) flu, and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) have been found to be airborne, the importance of monitoring bioaerosols for the control and prevention of airborne epidemic diseases outbreaks is increasing. However, current aerosol collection and detection technologies may be limited to on-field use for real-time monitoring because of the relatively low concentrations of targeted bioaerosols in air samples. Microfluidic devices have been used as lab-on-a-chip platforms and exhibit outstanding capabilities in airborne particulate collection, sample processing, and target molecule analysis, thereby highlighting their potential for on-site bio-aerosol monitoring. This review discusses the measurement of airborne microorganisms from air sam-ples, including sources and transmission of bioaerosols, sampling strategies, and analytical methodologies. Recent advancements in microfluidic platforms have focused on bioaerosol sample preparation strategies, such as sorting, concentrating, and extracting, as well as rapid and field -deployable detection methods for analytes on microfluidic chips. Furthermore, we discuss an inte-grated platform for on-site bioaerosol analyses. We believe that our review significantly contributes to the literature as it assists in bridging the knowledge gaps in bioaerosol monitoring using microfluidic platforms.(c) 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

As the importance of monitoring bioaerosols for the control and prevention of airborne epidemic diseases outbreaks is increasing, microfluidic devices have shown potential for on-site bio-aerosol monitoring. This review discusses the measurement of airborne microorganisms, sampling strategies, and analytical methodologies. Recent advancements in microfluidic platforms include sample preparation strategies and rapid detection methods on microfluidic chips.