# A Microfluidic System Coupling Amplified Nanofluidic Virion Purification and Mass Spectrometry for Detection of SARS-CoV-2

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN · 2020 · $334,234

## Abstract

A Microfluidic System Coupling Amplified Nanofluidic Virion Purification and Mass Spectrometry for
Detection of SARS-CoV-2
There is an urgent need for new methods and alternative techniques for viral detection in response to the SARS-
CoV-2 pandemic. A novel strategy is proposed for viral detection that purifies the virions with a
nanofluidic/microfluidic (NF/MF) system prior to protein analysis by mass spectrometry. The NF/MF purification
system and protein analysis are highly complementary to and a radical departure from existing approaches. The
NF/MF system addresses the fundamental challenge of rapid and efficient purification of virions from the huge
background of human cells and biomolecules. This novel approach will enable mining of the rich information that
is contained in the protein structures of the virus. In contrast with most other approaches, this technology will be
capable of detecting mutated strains of SARS-CoV-2 and emergent viruses.
The performance of the novel NF/MF will be fully characterized for different clinical needs. First, the extraction
efficiency of the NF/MF system and the limits of detection for the complete diagnostic system will be measured.
Second, application specific data acquisition and analysis strategies will be developed for the MS that are tuned
to: 1) achieve the best detection limits for diagnostic testing, and 2) to gain the greatest percentage of the viral
proteome for enhanced diagnostics for patients with high-viral loads.
In addition to the gains in capabilities, it is expected that performance, costs, and sample throughput will be
favorable. It is anticipated that limits of detection of 10 virions or better will be achieved with sample throughput
of a few thousand samples per day per system. The simplicity of the process and ease of automation will reduce
personnel costs. Only a few consumables will be used that are orthogonal to the supply chain for RNA based
methods. Thus, this technique is highly complementary to RNA-based approaches and would reduce
vulnerability to supply chain disruption. It is anticipated that these figures of merit and the potential applications
for utilizing the structural information contained in the proteins has the potential to revolutionize viral diagnostics
in both short-term and long-term.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10169076
- **Project number:** 3R01EB025268-04S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN
- **Principal Investigator:** Aaron T Timperman
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $334,234
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2018-04-02 → 2021-07-15

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10169076

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10169076, A Microfluidic System Coupling Amplified Nanofluidic Virion Purification and Mass Spectrometry for Detection of SARS-CoV-2 (3R01EB025268-04S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10169076. Licensed CC0.

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