Tiny vortexes help detect dangerous viruses

Workflow of the AIMDx chip. Credit: Science Advances (2025). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adt5464

Whirlpools are mostly associated with death and danger on the high seas, but these glowing vortexes are working to help humanity. One of the most difficult steps in creating diagnostic tests is purifying samples to remove unwanted particles while concentrating biomarkers of interest.

Due to the specific wavelengths of vibrations used to create these whirlpools, they efficiently trap cells, bacteria and other larger bioparticles found in saliva while leaving antibodies and viruses free to flow forward through multiple biosensing chambers. 

Whirlpools efficiently trap cells, bacteria and other larger bioparticles to purify samples for biomedical tests. Credit: Tony Jun Huang, Duke University

Created by Tony Jun Huang, the William Bevan Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science at Duke, and his Acoustofluidics Lab, they represent the first step in a new single-chip diagnostic prototype that can detect viral RNA and a full spectrum of antibodies to enhance our ability to navigate and neutralize future pandemics.

The research is published in the journal Science Advances. 

by Duke University

Source: Tiny vortexes help detect dangerous viruses