Acoustofluidic Virus\nIsolation via Bessel Beam Excitation\nSeparation Technology

The isolation of viruses from complex biological samples\nis essential\nfor creating sensitive bioassays that assess the efficacy and safety\nof viral therapeutics and vaccines, which have played a critical role\nduring the COVID-19 pandemic. However, existing methods of viral isolation\nare time-consuming and labor-intensive due to the multiple processing\nsteps required, resulting in low yields. Here, we introduce the rapid,\nefficient, and high-resolution acoustofluidic isolation of viruses\nfrom complex biological samples via Bessel beam excitation separation\ntechnology (BEST). BEST isolates viruses by utilizing the nondiffractive\nand self-healing properties of 2D, in-plane acoustic Bessel beams\nto continuously separate cell-free viruses from biofluids, with high\nthroughput and high viral RNA yield. By tuning the acoustic parameters,\nthe cutoff size of isolated viruses can be easily adjusted to perform\ndynamic, size-selective virus isolation while simultaneously trapping\nlarger particles and separating smaller particles and contaminants\nfrom the sample, achieving high-precision isolation of the target\nvirus. BEST was used to isolate severe acute respiratory syndrome\ncoronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) from human saliva samples and Moloney Murine\nLeukemia Virus from cell culture media, demonstrating its potential\nuse in both practical diagnostic applications and fundamental virology\nresearch. With high separation resolution, high yield, and high purity,\nBEST is a powerful tool for rapidly and efficiently isolating viruses.\nIt has the potential to play an important role in the development\nof next-generation viral diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines.