A collection and enrichment system for microbial aerosols

Abstract

The present invention provides a collection and enrichment system for microbial aerosols, including an aerosol collection component, an aerosol enrichment component and a sample collection component, wherein the aerosol collection component is connected to the input end of the aerosol enrichment component, and the sample collection component is sleeved on the outside of the aerosol enrichment component. The aerosol enrichment component includes an aerosol enricher and a collection tube cover, wherein a cell maintenance solution is contained in the aerosol enricher, the bottom end of the aerosol enricher is open and a filter plate is packaged on the outside of the open; an air inlet pipe and an air outlet pipe are penetrated on the collection tube cover, the air inlet pipe includes a first end and a second end, the air outlet pipe includes a third end and a fourth end, the first end and the third end are located above the collection tube cover, the second end and the fourth end are both located in the aerosol enricher, the second end is fixedly connected to a porous spheroid, the porous spheroid is located in the cell maintenance solution, the first end is connected to a first vacuum pump, the fourth end is located above the liquid surface of the cell maintenance solution, and a plug is detachably inserted in the third end.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the technical field of medical supplies, and in particular to a collection and enrichment system for microbial aerosols. Background Art

[0002] Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), referred to as "new coronary pneumonia", refers to pneumonia caused by the 2019 novel coronavirus infection. This virus is mainly transmitted through respiratory infection. The virus spread through aerosols can easily cause large-scale infection in a short period of time, and the transmission speed is very fast. Therefore, it is very necessary to study the virus monitoring of aerosols in the environment. However, since the traditional bioaerosol collection instruments or devices are mainly suitable for bacterial and fungal pathogens, the monitoring of viral aerosols is limited. The monitoring of viruses is inconvenient to operate and has poor sensitivity. It is seriously unsuitable for the current monitoring and research status in the field of infectious diseases, which restricts the demand for pathogen monitoring in the environment. New virus samplers have become one of the current research hotspots in this field.

[0003] Viruses are tiny, contain only one type of nucleic acid, and must reproduce and multiply in living cells. The particles are small, so it is not easy to collect respiratory viruses in the ambient air. Viral air collectors should focus on aerosol particles produced by breathing. Most existing bioaerosol samplers are not specifically set up for viral aerosols, and the collection spectrum is wide, making them not very suitable for collecting virus samples.

[0004] At present, the most commonly used method in the process of collecting pathogenic microorganisms is to use a virus aerosol collector for collection. A vacuum pump is used to extract the gas containing the aerosol into the sample collection tube. However, the gas and liquid often cannot be effectively mixed during the collection process, resulting in a low success rate for virus culture and detection. In addition, direct detection of viruses only through the liquid after aerosol enrichment will be affected by large particles such as bacteria, resulting in low detection results. It is also not convenient for the cultivation and study of bacteria associated with aerosols. At the same time, when collecting aerosols, it is usually necessary to directly extract ambient gas, but the density of aerosols in the ambient gas is low, resulting in low aerosol collection efficiency. Summary of the invention

[0005] The purpose of the present invention is to solve the shortcomings in the prior art.

[0006] To achieve the above object, the present invention adopts the following technical solutions:

[0007] A microbial aerosol collection and enrichment system comprises an aerosol collection component, an aerosol enrichment component and a sample collection component. The aerosol collection component is connected to the input end of the aerosol enrichment component, and the sample collection component is sleeved on the outside of the aerosol enrichment component.

[0008] The aerosol enrichment component includes an aerosol enricher and a collection tube cover, the collection tube cover is installed on the upper port of the aerosol enricher, the aerosol enricher contains a cell maintenance solution, the bottom end of the aerosol enricher is open and a filter plate is packaged on the outside of the open port; an air inlet pipe and an air outlet pipe are passed through the collection tube cover, the air inlet pipe includes a first end and a second end opposite to each other, the air outlet pipe includes a third end and a fourth end opposite to each other, the first end and the third end are located above the collection tube cover, the second end and the fourth end are both located in the aerosol enricher, the second end is fixedly connected to a porous spheroid, the porous spheroid is located in the cell maintenance solution, the first end is connected to a first vacuum pump, the fourth end is located above the liquid surface of the cell maintenance solution, and a plug is detachably inserted in the third end.

[0009] Preferably, a plurality of circular holes are evenly distributed on the porous spheroid, the circular holes penetrate the porous spheroid and communicate with the air inlet pipe, and the circular holes are in contact with the cell maintenance solution.

[0010] Preferably, a filter assembly is provided inside the air outlet pipe, and the filter assembly includes a first filter layer and a second filter layer from bottom to top, the first filter layer is located below the tube cover, and the second filter layer is located above the sample tube cover.

[0011] Preferably, a microporous filter membrane is fixedly mounted on the filter plate.

[0012] Preferably, a rotatable stirring bar is provided in the middle of the collection tube cover, and a stirring section of the stirring bar extends below the liquid surface of the cell maintenance solution.

[0013] Preferably, an injection tube is also provided on the collection tube cover, and one end of the injection tube located on the upper side of the collection tube cover has a section of hose, and a clip is clamped on the hose.

[0014] Preferably, the sample collection assembly includes a first collection tube, the aerosol enricher is inserted into the first collection tube and detachably fixed to the upper end of the first collection tube, and the collection tube cover is screwed to the first collection tube; a first air extraction tube is connected to the side wall of the first collection tube, the first air extraction tube is connected to the inner cavity of the first collection tube and is located in the middle of the side of the first collection tube; the first air extraction tube is externally connected to a second air extraction pump.

[0015] Preferably, the length of the aerosol enricher is one half of the first collection tube, the outer diameter of the top of the aerosol enricher is less than or equal to the inner diameter of the first collection tube, the top port of the aerosol enricher is provided with an outward curling edge, and the curling edge is clamped on the edge of the tube mouth of the first collection tube, and the outer diameter of the bottom end of the aerosol enricher is smaller than the outer diameter of the top of the aerosol enricher.

[0016] Preferably, the sample collection assembly includes a second collection tube, a second air extraction tube and a sampling tube. The second collection tube fixed cover is installed on the outside of the aerosol enricher. The collection tube cover is screwed on the upper end of the second collection tube. The end of the second air extraction tube away from the second collection tube is fixedly connected with a needle. The outlet end of the sampling tube is sealed with a rubber tube cover. There is a negative pressure environment in the sampling tube. The needle is detachably inserted into the rubber tube cover. A valve is provided in the middle section of the second air extraction tube.

[0017] Preferably, the aerosol collection assembly is a mask.

[0018] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects: (1) the porous spherical body connected to the air inlet pipe extends into the cell maintenance solution in the aerosol enricher, and the gas pumped in by the first air pump can be fully dispersed in the cell maintenance solution through the circular holes on the porous spherical body, thereby achieving full mixing of gas and liquid, which is convenient for the adsorption and collection of pathogenic microorganisms; (2) a part of the gas entering the aerosol enricher from the air inlet pipe will emerge from the cell maintenance solution, and the emerging gas will be discharged from the air outlet pipe. After the gas is processed by the filter component, the clean gas is discharged from the upper end of the air outlet pipe, which will not cause Secondary pollution of the environment can effectively filter out aerosols in the exhaust gas; (3) The setting of the microporous filter membrane is used to filter the cell maintenance liquid after the aerosol is adsorbed and dissolved from the bottom of the aerosol enricher. Small particles such as viruses and water enter the sample collection component through the microporous filter membrane. At the same time, the microporous filter membrane blocks bacteria and other organisms with larger particle sizes from remaining in the aerosol enricher, thereby separating the virus and facilitating subsequent detection and analysis; (4) The setting of the stirrer can further promote the mixing of gas and liquid, and further prevent the aerosol from being discharged from the outlet pipe or the generation of new aerosol; (5) The sample collection component can be sampled in two ways, making its application more flexible; (6) The second vacuum pump is used to draw air from the first collection tube to form a negative pressure, so that the virus can easily pass through the filter plate directly into the first collection tube to achieve liquid separation. At this time, the first sampling tube can be directly unscrewed to take samples, so that the sampling dose can be better controlled; (7) Using the negative pressure environment inside the sampling tube itself, the needle can be directly inserted into the sampling tube to absorb the cell maintenance solution containing the virus (hereinafter referred to as the virus solution), which is simpler and faster. There is no need to disassemble the second sampling tube, which is more convenient to operate; (8) After the virus solution is separated, the cell maintenance solution is injected into the aerosol enricher through the injection tube. At this time, the solution in the aerosol enricher can be used for the cultivation or detection of large-particle microorganisms such as bacteria; (9) The virus solution separated by the sample sampling component can be directly used for viral nucleic acid detection; (10) The mask can be used to directly cover the aerosol-containing gas exhaled by people talking, coughing, sneezing, etc. in the mask to prevent the aerosol-containing gas from diffusing outward, which is more convenient for aerosol gas collection. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of an embodiment of a microbial aerosol collection and enrichment system of the present invention;

[0020] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the structure of a porous spherical body of a microbial aerosol collection and enrichment system of the present invention;

[0021] Figure 3 It is a schematic structural diagram of an air outlet pipe of a microbial aerosol collection and enrichment system of the present invention;

[0022] Figure 4 It is a structural schematic diagram of an injection pipe of a microbial aerosol collection and enrichment system of the present invention;

[0023] Figure 5 The diagram is a schematic structural diagram of two embodiments of a microbial aerosol collection and enrichment system according to the present invention.

[0024] Figure 6 The present invention is a schematic diagram of the structure of a collection tube cover of a microbial aerosol collection and enrichment system.

[0025] Figure 7 The present invention is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of a mask of a microbial aerosol collection and enrichment system.

[0026] Figure 8 A side view of a mask of a microbial aerosol collection and enrichment system of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] In order to provide a further understanding of the purpose, structure, features, and functions of the present invention, the following detailed description is given in conjunction with the embodiments.

[0028] Please refer to Figure 1 , Figure 2 , Figure 3 , Figure 4 , Figure 5 , Figure 6 , Figure 7 and Figure 8 A microbial aerosol collection and enrichment system according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises an aerosol collection component 6, an aerosol enrichment component 1 and a sample collection component 2, wherein the aerosol collection component 6 is connected to the input end of the aerosol enrichment component 1, and the sample collection component 2 is sleeved on the outside of the aerosol enrichment component 1.

[0029] like Figure 1As shown, the aerosol enrichment assembly 1 includes an aerosol enricher 11 and a collection tube cover 12, wherein the collection tube cover 12 is mounted on the upper port of the aerosol enricher 11, wherein the aerosol enricher 11 contains a cell maintenance solution 3, wherein the bottom end of the aerosol enricher 11 is an open port 111 and a filter plate 112 is packaged outside the open port 111; an air inlet pipe 13 and an air outlet pipe 14 are provided on the collection tube cover 12, wherein the air inlet pipe 13 includes a first end 131 and a second end 132 opposite to each other, and the air outlet pipe 14 includes a first end 131 and a second end 132 opposite to each other, and the air outlet pipe 14 includes a first end 132 opposite to each other. The first end 131 and the third end 141 are located above the collection tube cover 12, the second end 132 and the fourth end 142 are both located in the aerosol enricher 11, the second end 132 is fixedly connected to a porous spherical body 15, the porous spherical body 15 is located in the cell maintenance solution 3, the first end 131 is connected to a first vacuum pump 4, the fourth end 142 is located above the liquid surface of the cell maintenance solution 3, and a plug 143 is detachably inserted in the third end 141.

[0030] like Figure 1As shown, during the use of the aerosol enrichment component 1 of one embodiment of the present invention, first, the aerosol collection component 6 is used to collect microbial aerosols at any time when the aerosols are generated at a relatively dense position, and then the cell maintenance solution 3 corresponding to one-half of the volume of the aerosol enricher 11 is injected, and the first suction pump 4 is turned on. The first suction pump 4 has a first suction pipe 41 and a first discharge pipe 42 relative to each other. The first discharge pipe 42 is connected to the first end 131 of the air inlet pipe 13. The first suction pump 4 first extracts the gas containing the aerosol to be detected collected in the aerosol collection component 6, and inhales the gas containing the aerosol from the first suction pipe 41. The first discharge pipe 42 discharges, and the first discharge pipe 42 is connected to the first end 131 of the air inlet pipe 13, so that the gas containing aerosol directly enters the porous spherical body 15 through the air inlet pipe 13, and diffuses into the cell maintenance solution 3 through the porous spherical body 15, so that the microbial aerosol in the gas containing aerosol is fully in contact with the cell maintenance solution 3 and integrated into the cell maintenance solution 3. In this process, the first air pump 4 continuously extracts the gas containing aerosol, thereby continuously filling the cell maintenance solution 3 with aerosol, which is beneficial to increase the concentration of microorganisms in the cell maintenance solution 3, thereby facilitating the collection of viruses, and has a very good positive effect on culturing or detecting viruses. While the first vacuum pump 4 continues to pump the aerosol-containing gas into the aerosol enricher 11, the aerosol-containing gas entering the cell maintenance solution 3 is diffused by the porous spherical body 15, so that the aerosol-containing gas is fully in contact with the cell maintenance solution 3, thereby facilitating the aerosol to dissolve in the cell maintenance solution 3, and the gas absorbed by the cell maintenance solution 3 will bubble out of the cell maintenance solution 3, so that the overflowed gas will enter the outlet pipe 14 through the fourth end 142 of the outlet pipe 14. At this time, the plug 143 is not plugged into the bottom end, so that the overflowed gas can smoothly pass through the outlet pipe 14 and be discharged into the external environment again. In this way, the enrichment of the aerosol can be completed.

[0031] Before aerosol enrichment, the present invention uses the aerosol collection component 6 to collect ambient gas with a higher aerosol density, which can facilitate the transportation of gas containing high-density aerosols and facilitate the experiment. Compared with directly installing an aerosol collection and enrichment system in the corresponding environment, the experimental environment is more centralized and can effectively save the cost of inspection equipment, while effectively improving the aerosol collection and enrichment efficiency.

[0032] Since the sample collection component 2 is sleeved on the outside of the aerosol enricher 11 and covered on the outside of the filter plate 112, the sample collection component 2 can create a negative pressure environment relative to the air pressure in the aerosol enricher 11. After the aerosol enricher 11 is enriched with a certain amount of microorganisms that can meet the detection conditions, the microbial solution is sucked downward from the bottom under the pressure difference between the sample collection component 2 and the aerosol enricher 11, and the solution can be separated by filtering through the filter plate 112. In one embodiment, a microporous filter membrane 113 is fixedly installed on the filter plate 112, and its pore size is only 0.2-0.3 microns, and some can even reach 0.1-0.22 microns. Since the diameter of most bacteria is between 0.5 and 5 microns, and the diameter of most viruses is less than 0.1 microns, the microporous filter membrane 113 has such a small pore size that it can only pass most virus particles and isolate most large-particle microorganisms such as bacteria. Therefore, under the action of pressure difference, water and particles smaller than the membrane pores pass through the downstream of the filter membrane, and particles larger than the membrane pores are retained in the upper layer of the membrane. After the aerosol is collected, an appropriate amount of cell maintenance liquid 3 is added to the aerosol enricher 11 again, and the liquid in the aerosol enricher 11 is taken out for bacterial and other particle culture or detection, and the liquid in the sample collection component 2 is used for live virus culture or viral nucleic acid detection.

[0033] Before the sample collection component 2 extracts the virus solution 5 downward, it is necessary to first install the plug 143 on the third end 141 of the outlet pipe 14 to seal the outlet pipe 14. At this time, on the one hand, the first vacuum pump 4 can be used to continuously pump aerosol-containing gas into the aerosol enricher 11, so that the air pressure in the aerosol enricher 11 becomes larger, and the virus solution 5 is directly pressed into the sample collection component 2 through the microporous filter membrane 113; the first vacuum pump 4 can also be turned off, and only the negative pressure environment created by the sample collection component 2 itself is used to suck downward; or the first vacuum pump 4 is turned on to continuously pump gold gas into the aerosol enricher 11, and at the same time, with the negative pressure environment in the sample collection component 2, pressure and suction are performed at the same time to quickly separate the virus solution 5.

[0034] like Figure 1 As shown, further, a pressure regulator 43 is provided at the first discharge pipe 42 of the first vacuum pump 4 to control the flow rate of the aerosol-containing gas filled into the aerosol enricher 11, so as to ensure that the aerosol in the aerosol-containing gas can be fully absorbed, and avoid the situation where the aerosol-containing gas flows in too fast a flow rate and the aerosol is discharged without being fully absorbed.

[0035] like Figure 2As shown, preferably, the porous spherical body 15 is evenly provided with a plurality of circular holes 151, the circular holes 151 penetrate the porous spherical body 15 and communicate with the air inlet pipe 13, and the circular holes 151 are in contact with the cell preservation solution 3. The evenly distributed circular holes 151 can effectively increase and disperse the path for the gas containing aerosol to enter the cell preservation solution, improve the diffusion effect of the gas containing aerosol entering the cell preservation solution, thereby effectively increasing the contact area between the gas containing aerosol and the cell preservation solution, thereby improving the gas-liquid mixing efficiency.

[0036] like Figure 3 As shown, preferably, a filter assembly 144 is provided inside the outlet pipe 14, and the filter assembly 144 includes a first filter layer 1441 and a second filter layer 1442 from bottom to top, wherein the first filter layer 1441 is located below the tube cover, and the second filter layer 1442 is located above the sample tube cover. The filter assembly 144 is divided into a first filter layer 1441 and a second filter layer 1442. When the gas overflowing from the cell preservation solution enters the outlet pipe 14, it first passes through the first filter layer 1441 to process the overflowing gas for the first time, and then the gas passes through the second filter layer 1442 to further process the overflowing gas for the second time. The gas after being processed twice by the filter assembly 144 is clean gas and is discharged from the pipe opening at the upper end of the outlet pipe 14. In this way, the gas can be fully filtered to ensure the purity of the gas. Furthermore, the first filter layer 1441 and the second filter layer 1442 are both medical filter cotton, so that they not only have good filtering performance but also have good air permeability. As shown Figure 3 As shown, the first filter layer 1441 is a double-layer medical filter cotton, and the second filter layer 1442 is a single-layer medical filter cotton. The double-layer structure can filter pathogenic microorganisms in the gas containing aerosols to the greatest extent, and then the gas containing aerosols is further filtered through the second filter layer 1442 again, achieving double filtration and protection.

[0037] Preferably, a microporous filter membrane 113 is fixedly mounted on the filter plate 112. The pore size of the microporous filter membrane 113 is 0.2-0.3 microns. The microporous filter membrane 113 is usually polyethersulfone (or cellulose acetate (CA), polysulfone (PS), polyacrylonitrile (PAN), polyethersulfone (PES)), which can pass most virus particles and block most bacteria and other particles, making it more convenient to analyze virus small molecules in the air and reduce the impact of large particles such as bacteria.

[0038] like Figure 1As shown, preferably, a rotatable stirrer 16 is provided in the middle of the collection tube cover 12, and a stirring section 161 of the stirrer 16 extends below the liquid surface of the cell maintenance solution 3, so as to further improve the mixing efficiency between the gas containing aerosol and the cell preservation solution, promote the fusion of the aerosol and the cell preservation solution, and prevent the generation and overflow of new aerosol.

[0039] like Figure 1 and Figure 4 As shown, preferably, the collection tube cover 12 is also provided with an injection tube 17, and one end of the injection tube 17 located on the upper side of the collection tube cover 12 has a hose 171, and a clip 172 is clamped on the hose 171. The setting of the injection tube 17 is mainly used to facilitate the injection of cell maintenance solution into the aerosol enricher 11 when it is needed, without disassembling the collection tube cover 12, which is easy to operate.

[0040] like Figure 1 As shown, preferably, the sample collection component 2 includes a first collection tube 21, the aerosol enricher 11 is inserted into the first collection tube 21 and detachably fixed to the upper end of the first collection tube 21, and the collection tube cover 12 is screwed to the first collection tube 21; a first air extraction tube 22 is connected to the side wall of the first collection tube 21, the first air extraction tube 22 is connected to the inner cavity of the first collection tube 21 and is located in the middle of the side of the first collection tube 21; the first air extraction tube 22 is externally connected to a second air extraction pump 23.

[0041] In one embodiment, the sample collection assembly 2 of this structure is operated in a specific manner by using the second air pump 23 to draw air outward from the first air pump 22 on the side of the first collection tube 21, so that a negative pressure ring is actively formed inside the first collection tube 21. In this way, under the action of the pressure difference, the water and small particles such as viruses in the aerosol enricher 11 pass through the microporous filter membrane 113 and directly flow into the first collection tube 21, thus completing the separation of live viruses from particles such as bacteria. In this process, it should be noted that since the first air pump 22 is arranged on the side wall of the first collection tube 21, in order for the first collection tube 21 to contain enough virus solution 5, the position of the first air pump 22 needs to be as close to the upper end of the first collection tube 21 as possible, so that the lower end of the first collection tube 21 can have a large enough volume to contain the virus solution 5. However, at the same time, the first air pump 22 cannot be too close to the top, because it will be blocked by the aerosol enricher 11, resulting in reduced air extraction efficiency and slower speed. Therefore, the preferred solution is to set the first air extraction pipe 22 below the aerosol enricher 11, which can not only ensure the air extraction efficiency, but also enable the first collection tube 21 to have a larger capacity for containing the sample solution, and at the same time prevent the solution from overflowing from the interface between the first air extraction pipe 22 and the first collection tube 21 into the second air extraction pump 23, thereby ensuring the normal operation of the equipment.

[0042] like Figure 1 As shown, preferably, the length of the aerosol enricher 11 is one-half of the first collection tube 21, the outer diameter of the top of the aerosol enricher 11 is less than or equal to the inner diameter of the first collection tube 21, the top port of the aerosol enricher 11 is provided with an outward curling edge, the curling edge is clamped on the edge of the tube mouth of the first collection tube 21, and the outer diameter of the bottom end of the aerosol enricher 11 is smaller than the outer diameter of the top end of the aerosol enricher 11. This structure, on the one hand, facilitates the insertion of the aerosol enricher 11 into the first collection tube 21, and on the other hand, can prevent the aerosol enricher 11 from slipping into the first collection tube 21 and being difficult to remove. Since the length of the aerosol enricher 11 is only half of the first collection tube 21, and the capacity of the cell maintenance solution 3 in the aerosol enricher 11 is half of the volume of the aerosol enricher 11, and the first exhaust pipe 22 is located in the middle of the side wall of the first collection tube 21, even if all the solution in the aerosol enricher 11 is exhausted, the extracted virus solution 5 will not pass through the pipe mouth of the first exhaust pipe 22, which can protect the equipment from being damaged.

[0043] like Figure 5 As shown, preferably, the sample collection assembly 2 includes a second collection tube 24, a second air extraction tube 25 and a sampling tube 26. The fixed cover of the second collection tube 24 is installed on the outside of the aerosol enricher 11. The collection tube cover 12 is screwed on the upper end of the second collection tube 24. The end of the second air extraction tube 25 away from the second collection tube 24 is fixedly connected with a needle 27. The outlet end of the sampling tube 26 is sealed with a rubber tube cover 261. The sampling tube 26 has a negative pressure environment. The needle 27 is detachably inserted into the rubber tube cover 261. Furthermore, a valve 28 is provided in the middle section of the second air extraction tube 25.

[0044] In the second embodiment, when the needle 27 is inserted into the sampling tube 26 and the second collection tube 24 is connected to the inside of the sampling tube 26, since the sampling tube 26 has a negative pressure environment, a negative pressure environment is also formed in the second collection tube 24, and the pressure is relatively small compared to the air pressure in the aerosol enricher 11. Therefore, under the action of the upper and lower pressure differences, the second collection tube 24 can attract the virus solution 5 downward to flow into the second collection tube 24, and the second air extraction tube 25 is located at the bottom of the second collection tube 24. In this way, when the virus solution 5 flows to the bottom of the second collection tube 24, it will flow into the sampling tube 26 along the second air extraction tube 25, so that the collection of the virus solution 5 sample can be completed. The setting of the valve 28 can lock the second air extraction tube 25 when it is not necessary to collect samples, thereby realizing the sealing of the second collection tube 24 and preventing the outflow of the virus solution 5. When sampling is required, the needle 27 is inserted into the rubber tube cover of the sampling tube 26, and the valve 28 is opened to automatically attract the virus solution 5. Of course, the stopper 143 can also be plugged in and the first vacuum pump 4 can continue to pump the gas containing aerosol into the aerosol enricher 11, which can increase the pressure difference, so that the virus solution 5 can be quickly separated and rapid sampling can be achieved. At this time, the virus solution 5 can be taken out without opening the second collection tube 24, which is convenient and fast, and there is no need to worry about the backflow of the virus solution 5. At the same time, the structure is simpler, saving equipment costs, and the sampling tube 26 can be directly transported to the detection platform after receiving the virus solution 5 for cultivation and detection, which is more convenient and quick. It should be pointed out that due to the good fluidity of rubber, when the needle 27 is pulled out, the hole originally pierced by the needle 27 in the rubber tube cover 261 will be automatically squeezed and closed together by the autonomous flow of rubber, so that the sampling tube 26 can restore the sealed environment.

[0045] At the same time, since a large number of samples are required during the experiment or detection process, in the second embodiment, the sample collection component 2 cooperates with the aerosol enrichment component 1, and continuous sampling can be performed without removing the cover of the sampling tube 26, which is more convenient and efficient. The specific operation method is as follows: open the plug 143 to make the outlet pipe 14 deaerated and unobstructed, and then directly inject the cell maintenance solution 3 into the aerosol enricher 11 through the injection tube 17. At this time, the virus content in the cell maintenance solution 3 is low, and then turn on the first vacuum pump 4 to continuously pump the gas containing aerosol into the aerosol enricher 11. The gas containing aerosol is diffused in the cell maintenance solution 3 through the porous spherical body 15 and is fully in contact with the cell maintenance solution 3. The aerosol is dissolved in the water. At the same time, the stirrer 16 rotates, which is the entire aerosol enricher 11. The maintenance liquid in the sample is stirred, so that the cell maintenance liquid 3 and the gas containing aerosol are further fully contacted and mixed, thereby increasing the rate at which the aerosol microorganisms dissolve in water and preventing the gas containing aerosol from directly overflowing the cell maintenance liquid 3 or generating new aerosols to be discharged from the aerosol enricher 11. Then, the valve 28 is opened, and the needle 27 is inserted into the sampling tube 26. The negative pressure environment of the sampling tube 26 is used for direct suction. The virus solution 5 flows through the microporous filter membrane 113 under the negative pressure environment, enters the second collection tube 24 and further flows into the sampling tube 26. At this time, the sampling tube 26 continues to suck, the injection tube 17 continues to inject, and ensures that the porous spheroid 15 is always located below the liquid surface of the cell maintenance solution 3, ensuring that the gas containing the aerosol can always contact the cell maintenance solution 3, and at the same time, the first vacuum pump 4 continues to pump the gas containing the aerosol, and then the stirrer 16 continues to stir. At this time, after a sampling tube 26 extracts a specified amount of virus solution 5, it can be unplugged and connected to a new empty sampling tube 26 to continue to extract the virus solution 5, so as to achieve continuous sampling. Until the sampling is completed or the microporous filter membrane 113 loses its filtering ability, it is necessary to stop sampling at this time, close the valve 28, the first vacuum pump 4 and the stirrer 16, and continue to inject the cell maintenance solution 3 into the aerosol enricher 11 through the injection tube 17 to provide a living environment for bacteria and other microorganisms. When the cell maintenance solution 3 is injected to about half of the volume of the aerosol enricher 11, the injection is stopped, and the clamp 172 is clamped. At this time, the solution in the aerosol enricher 11 can be taken out, and large-particle microorganisms such as bacteria can be cultured and detected.

[0046] like Figure 6As shown, it should be pointed out that in the first embodiment and the second embodiment, the structure of the collection tube cover 12 is the same, with an inner layer 121 and an outer layer 122. The inner layer 121 is a sealing rubber plug, which is used to seal the plug at the tube mouth of the aerosol enricher 11 to ensure the sealed environment in the aerosol enricher. The outer layer 122 is screwed on the outside of the tube mouth of the first collection tube 21 or the second collection tube 24 to ensure the sealing of the tube mouth of the collection tube. At the same time, the air inlet pipe 13, the air outlet pipe 14, the injection pipe 17 and the stirrer 16 are all installed on the inner layer, that is, the sealing rubber plug, to ensure that they are all located in the aerosol enricher 11.

[0047] In addition, the first vacuum pump 4 and the second vacuum pump 23 can be heavier models and various sizes, and their input and output pipes only need to be able to be sealed and connected with the corresponding pipes in the system.

[0048] like Figure 7 and Figure 8 As shown, preferably, the aerosol collection assembly 6 is a mask. The mask comprises a first cover body 61, a second cover body 62 and a connection structure 63, the first cover body 61 comprises a side opening structure 611, an air inlet 612, a fixing belt 613 and a side guard strip 614, the side opening structure 611 is located on the left side of the first cover body 61, the air inlet 612 is located in the middle of the first cover body 61, the fixing belt 613 is fixed to the two sides of the side opening structure 61, the side guard strip 614 is fixed to the side and bottom of the first cover body 61, and a "U"-shaped structure is formed around it, and the first cover body 61 is a quarter cylinder.

[0049] The second cover body 62 includes a bottom opening 621, an air outlet 622 and a guide pipe 623. The bottom opening 621 is located at the lower side of the second cover body 62. The air outlet 622 is located at the upper left corner of the second cover body 62. The air outlet 622 is connected to the guide pipe 623. The second cover body 62 is a hollow hemispherical body. The second cover body 62 is placed horizontally above the first cover body 61. The first cover body 61 is vertically arranged below the second cover body 62. The first cover body 61 and the second cover body 62 are connected to each other. The connecting structure 63 is One end is connected to the top position of the first cover body 61, and the other end is connected to the bottom position of the second cover body 62; the side opening structure 611 and the bottom opening 621 are perpendicular to each other; when using the mask, the person being collected holds the side opening structure 611 of the first cover body 61 with one hand, and holds the bottom opening 621 of the second cover body 62 with the other hand, and puts it on the head. When the opening size formed by the side opening structure 611 and the bottom opening 621 is not suitable for the head size of the person being collected, the connecting structure 63 can be stretched. The structure 63 is elastic, so the size of the opening can be adjusted to suit the head size of different persons being collected, and then the position of the side strip 614 and the facial contour is adjusted. The side strip 614 is elastic, ergonomic, and can fit the facial contour perfectly to prevent the aerosols generated by speaking droplets, sneezing, and coughing from escaping from the side opening structure 611. At the same time, the elastic setting of the side strip 614 can also increase the comfort of the person being collected wearing the mask and avoid pressure injuries to the face of the collector; then the fixing belts 614 on both sides of the side opening structure 611 are tightened. 13 is wrapped around the back of the head and tied to prevent the collection mask from shaking due to the rotation of the human head and to enhance fixation; the person being collected inhales fresh air through the air inlet hole 6121 on the air inlet 612 to prevent hypoxia, and the gas generated by talking droplets, sneezing, coughing, etc. can pass through the air outlet 622 on the upper left of the second mask body 62, and then be discharged through the outlet pipe 623. The other end of the outlet pipe 623 is connected to the first vacuum pump 4 to extract the gas and enter the aerosol enrichment component 1 to enrich the aerosol.

[0050] Please refer to Figure 8 , Figure 8The figure is a side view of a pathogenic microorganism sample collection mask of the present invention. Preferably, the connection structure 63 is a "V"-shaped structure, one side of which is connected to the first cover body 61 and the other side of which is connected to the second cover body 62. The connection structure 63 is elastic, so that the opening size of the opening position of the first cover body 61 and the second cover body 62 can be adjusted, and it is suitable for people with different head sizes. The connection structure 63 is an elastic structure, which can automatically adapt to the head size of the collector, and is more convenient to adjust.

[0051] Furthermore, an elastic sealing strip 64 is provided at the gap where the upper edge of the first cover body 61 and the lower edge of the second cover body 62 meet. The length of the elastic sealing strip 64 is equal to the arc length of the upper edge of the first cover body 61, and its two sides are respectively sealed and adhered to the first cover body 61 and the second cover body 62 to seal the gap where the first cover body 61 and the second cover body 62 meet, thereby preventing aerosol from overflowing from the joint when the aerosol is collected, and the elastic sealing strip 64 can be directly squeezed and deformed when the first cover body 61 is lifted upward, without affecting the entire structure.

[0052] The bottom of the first cover body 61 is a concave arc-shaped support platform 615, which is used to hold the chin of the collector and is sealed with the side strip 614. In this way, when the first cover body 61 is opened outward to adjust the angle with the second cover body 62, the support platform 615 can hold the side face and chin of the collector from the bottom of the chin of the collector, thereby preventing most of the exhaled gas of the collector from overflowing.

[0053] Preferably, the air inlet 612 is triangular in shape, and has many air inlet holes 6121. The air inlet holes 6121 are circular in structure, and the air inlet holes 6121 can allow the wearer to breathe in fresh air to prevent hypoxia and secondary damage. The air inlet 612 is located in the middle of the first mask body 61, and is located near the nose of the collector when the collector wears the mask, so as to facilitate the collector to breathe.

[0054] Preferably, the edge strip 614 is a continuous "S"-shaped structure, and the material of the edge strip 614 is an elastic rubber strip or a sponge strip. The elastic rubber strip or the sponge strip can increase the comfort of the person being collected wearing the collection mask, and can also increase the sealing between the contact with the face.

[0055] By collecting aerosols through masks, it is possible to directly collect aerosol pathogens produced by droplets from sick people when they sneeze, cough or talk, making aerosol collection more efficient and easier to enrich and collect aerosols.

[0056] As described above, the present invention provides a microbial aerosol collection and enrichment system: (1) the porous spherical body connected to the air inlet pipe extends into the cell maintenance solution in the aerosol enricher, and the gas pumped in by the first air pump can be fully dispersed in the cell maintenance solution through the circular holes on the porous spherical body, so that the gas and liquid are fully mixed, which is convenient for the adsorption and collection of pathogenic microorganisms; (2) a part of the gas entering the aerosol enricher from the air inlet pipe will emerge from the cell maintenance solution, and the emerging gas will be discharged from the air outlet pipe. After being processed by the filter component, the gas will be discharged from the upper end of the air outlet pipe. The exhaust gas is clean and will not cause secondary pollution to the environment. It can effectively filter out the aerosol in the exhaust gas. (3) The microporous filter membrane is set to filter the cell maintenance liquid after the aerosol is adsorbed and dissolved from the bottom of the aerosol enricher. Small particles such as viruses and water enter the sample collection component through the microporous filter membrane. At the same time, the microporous filter membrane blocks bacteria and other organisms with larger particle sizes from remaining in the aerosol enricher, thereby separating the virus and facilitating subsequent detection and testing. (4) The setting of the stirrer can further promote the mixing of gas and liquid and further prevent aerosols. The aerosol is discharged from the exhaust pipe or a new aerosol is generated; (5) The sample collection component can be sampled in two ways, making its application more flexible; (6) The second vacuum pump is used to draw air from the first collection tube to form a negative pressure, so that the virus can easily pass through the filter plate directly into the first collection tube to achieve liquid separation. At this time, the first sampling tube can be directly unscrewed to take samples, so that the sampling dose can be better controlled; (7) For the use of the negative pressure environment inside the sampling tube itself, the needle can be directly inserted into the sampling tube to absorb the virus solution inside, which is simpler It is quick and does not require the disassembly of the second sampling tube, making it more convenient to operate; (8) After the virus solution is separated, the cell maintenance solution is injected into the aerosol enricher through the injection tube. At this time, the solution in the aerosol enricher can be used for the cultivation or detection of large-particle microorganisms such as bacteria; (9) The virus solution separated by the sample sampling component can be directly used for viral nucleic acid detection, making the detection results more accurate; (10) The mask can be used to directly cover the exhaled gas of a person in the mask to prevent the gas containing aerosols from diffusing outward, making it easier to collect aerosol gases.

[0057] The present invention has been described by the above-mentioned relevant embodiments, however, the above-mentioned embodiments are only examples for implementing the present invention. It must be pointed out that the disclosed embodiments do not limit the scope of the present invention. On the contrary, changes and modifications made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention are all within the scope of patent protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A microbial aerosol collection and enrichment system, characterized in that: It comprises an aerosol collecting component, an aerosol enriching component and a sample collecting component, wherein the aerosol collecting component is connected to the input end of the aerosol enriching component, and the sample collecting component is sleeved on the outside of the aerosol enriching component; The aerosol enrichment assembly comprises an aerosol enricher and a collection tube cover, wherein the collection tube cover is mounted on the upper port of the aerosol enricher, the aerosol enricher contains a cell maintenance solution, the bottom end of the aerosol enricher is open and a filter plate is packaged on the outside of the open port; an air inlet pipe and an air outlet pipe are penetrated through the collection tube cover, the air inlet pipe comprises a first end and a second end opposite to each other, the air outlet pipe comprises a third end and a fourth end opposite to each other, the first end and the third end are located above the collection tube cover, the second end and the fourth end are both located in the aerosol enricher, the second end is fixedly connected to a porous spheroid, the porous spheroid is located in the cell maintenance solution, the first end is connected to a first air pump, the fourth end is located above the liquid surface of the cell maintenance solution, and a plug is detachably inserted in the third end; A microporous filter membrane is fixedly mounted on the filter plate; A rotatable stirring rod is provided in the middle of the collection tube cover, and a stirring section of the stirring rod extends below the liquid surface of the cell maintenance solution; The sample collection assembly includes a first collection tube, the aerosol enricher is inserted into the first collection tube and detachably fixed to the upper end of the first collection tube, and the collection tube cover is screwed to the first collection tube; a first air extraction tube is connected to the side wall of the first collection tube, the first air extraction tube is connected to the inner cavity of the first collection tube and is located in the middle of the side of the first collection tube; the first air extraction tube is externally connected to a second air extraction pump.

2. The microbial aerosol collection and enrichment system according to claim 1, characterized in that: A plurality of circular holes are evenly distributed on the porous spheroid, the circular holes penetrate the porous spheroid and are connected with the air inlet pipe, and the circular holes are in contact with the cell maintenance solution.

3. The microbial aerosol collection and enrichment system according to claim 1, characterized in that: A filter assembly is disposed inside the air outlet pipe, and the filter assembly includes a first filter layer and a second filter layer from bottom to top, wherein the first filter layer is located below the pipe cover, and the second filter layer is located above the pipe cover.

4. The microbial aerosol collection and enrichment system according to claim 1, characterized in that: An injection pipe is also provided on the collection tube cover. One end of the injection pipe located on the upper side of the collection tube cover is provided with a section of hose, and a clip is mounted on the hose.

5. The microbial aerosol collection and enrichment system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The length of the aerosol enricher is half of the first collection tube, the outer diameter of the top of the aerosol enricher is less than or equal to the inner diameter of the first collection tube, the top port of the aerosol enricher is provided with an outward curling edge, and the curling edge is clamped on the edge of the tube mouth of the first collection tube, and the outer diameter of the bottom end of the aerosol enricher is smaller than the outer diameter of the top end of the aerosol enricher.

6. The microbial aerosol collection and enrichment system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The aerosol collection component is a mask.

7. A microbial aerosol collection and enrichment system, characterized in that: It comprises an aerosol collecting component, an aerosol enriching component and a sample collecting component, wherein the aerosol collecting component is connected to the input end of the aerosol enriching component, and the sample collecting component is sleeved on the outside of the aerosol enriching component; The aerosol enrichment assembly comprises an aerosol enricher and a collection tube cover, wherein the collection tube cover is mounted on the upper port of the aerosol enricher, the aerosol enricher contains a cell maintenance solution, the bottom end of the aerosol enricher is open and a filter plate is packaged on the outside of the open port; an air inlet pipe and an air outlet pipe are penetrated through the collection tube cover, the air inlet pipe comprises a first end and a second end opposite to each other, the air outlet pipe comprises a third end and a fourth end opposite to each other, the first end and the third end are located above the collection tube cover, the second end and the fourth end are both located in the aerosol enricher, the second end is fixedly connected to a porous spheroid, the porous spheroid is located in the cell maintenance solution, the first end is connected to a first air pump, the fourth end is located above the liquid surface of the cell maintenance solution, and a plug is detachably inserted in the third end; A microporous filter membrane is fixedly mounted on the filter plate; A rotatable stirring rod is provided in the middle of the collection tube cover, and a stirring section of the stirring rod extends below the liquid surface of the cell maintenance solution; The sample collection assembly includes a second collection tube, a second air extraction tube and a sampling tube. The second collection tube fixed cover is installed on the outside of the aerosol enricher. The collection tube cover is screwed on the upper end of the second collection tube. The end of the second air extraction tube away from the second collection tube is fixedly connected with a needle. The outlet end of the sampling tube is sealed with a rubber tube cover. There is a negative pressure environment in the sampling tube. The needle is detachably inserted into the rubber tube cover. A valve is provided in the middle section of the second air extraction tube.

Images