UK MOD © Crown copyright 2024
Defence and Security
The issue: what’s at stake?
Biological threats – whether from bioterrorism, biowarfare, or naturally occurring outbreaks – pose a risk to national security and public safety. Bioaerosols, including bacteria, viruses, and toxins, can be weaponised, spread rapidly, and cause severe health and environmental consequences.
To counter this risk, governments need to ensure they can maintain state-of-the-art, sovereign biological detection capabilities, protecting military personnel and civilians alike. In the UK, the Ministry of Defence considers the development of biological detection systems that can be fielded by UK Armed Forces a high priority.
The need for technological breakthroughs
Conventional bioaerosol sampling systems are often cumbersome, making them impractical for military deployment and border security operations. The goal is to develop lightweight, automated detection systems that can be seamlessly integrated into military equipment, enabling personnel to rapidly identify and react to airborne biological and chemical threats.
The primary technological hurdle is downsizing system components while maintaining the capacity to capture sufficient volumes of bioaerosols and efficiently process samples. This ensures the required concentration levels for fast and precise threat detection.
Why the Biodetection Technologies Hub?
The Biodetection Technologies Hub is pioneering advanced solutions in bioaerosol sampling, microfluidics, electrostatic collection systems, and digital diagnostics to transform near real-time threat detection. At the heart of the Hub is a 25-year collaboration between University of Hertfordshire’s (UH) Wolfson Centre for Biodetection Technologies and Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl). This collaboration has driven significant innovation, most recently in the application of emerging digital microfluidic technologies for next-generation, wearable bioaerosol detection systems.
UH and Dstl’s jointly developed electrostatic precipitator technology, which integrates high-efficiency collection surfaces with a novel digital microfluidic sample recovery platform, delivers exceptional sample concentration into microscale droplets, significantly enhancing detection sensitivity. The prototype offers the potential for near real-time exposure monitoring. University of Leeds researchers are currently leading studies into the application of this technology to the monitoring of atmospheric bioaerosols for climate modelling.
How do we get there?
The Hub is driving progress through:
Next-generation biosensing technologies: Further advancing and optimising electrostatic collection, microfluidics, and digital diagnostics to create compact, high-efficiency detection systems that provide near-real-time exposure data for military and security personnel in hazardous environments.
AI-enhanced threat identification: Integrating AI and machine learning to rapidly analyse airborne biological threats and predict emerging risks.
Translational research and field trials: A current project involves a collaboration between University of Hertfordshire, Dstl, Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC), Université Laval and the National Research Council of Canada to integrate next-generation bioaerosol collection and sample processing technologies with DRDC’s existing capabilities.
Cross-sector collaboration: Working with government, industry, and security partners to align innovation with real-world operational needs.
Main photo © MOD
