Team of German Researchers Looks into Superspreaders Phenomenon

Researchers from the Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg are currently examining the rise and spread of aerosols using artificially manufactured suspended particles and tissue cultivations. The researchers, who hail from the departments of process engineering, biomedical sciences and physics, aim to discover why the “superspreader” phenomenon exists.

The group of scientists will be investigating how virus particles in humans are packed into the infectious air bubbles and which processes allow these particles to stick to the airways of other individuals where they then pop, causing infection. The researchers from the process engineering department will be designing simulation models to help other scientists make reliable forecasts about the spread and distribution of these aerosol particles.

Dr. Heike Walles, a biomedical research professor from the university’s Core Facility Tissue Engineering, explained that there was a significant amount of knowledge in existence about the biological mechanisms involved in the processes of infection, noting that researchers had an accurate idea of how the virus reached cells in humans and multiplied. However, he added, researchers weren’t sure how the viruses were packed into the aerosol particles before exiting an individual’s body in order to infect others.

Walles also noted that bringing together these complex technologies under sterile working conditions was the biggest challenge for this project.

A team of researchers, led by Prof. Claus-Dieter Ohl, a physicist from the faculty of natural sciences, will be producing aerosols based on particles and package them with fluorescent proteins. The researchers will be producing different sizes of particles, similar to the particles found in the lungs of humans.

In turn, the group led by Walles will be growing artificial tissue models that will be coated with protein solutions to replicate mucus, in a bid to simulate the airways’ physical conditions. High pressure will then be applied into the tubular networks to observe how the aerosols stick to biological surfaces. The movement of these particles will be recorded using high-speed cameras.

Additionally, the group of researchers led by Dr. Ing Fabian Denner will help populate the models with the data obtained from this research, which will provide a basis for decision making, allowing researchers to find out which changes and adjustments are required for the experimental approach.

Ohl noted that understanding how aerosols are produced, how they spread and the conditions that cause them to burst may allow researchers to find drugs that reduce and influence aerosol formation in the airways of individuals. This, he added, would make it possible to effectively limit the spread of infectious viruses. The project has been financed by the German Research Foundation.

As different teams are devoting their energies to getting a better understanding of the coronavirus and how it affects humans, other companies, such as Brain Scientific Inc. (OTCQB: BRSF), are looking to bring next-gen medical devices to the market, especially for neurological conditions that have devastating effects on patients.

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Brain Scientific Inc. (OTCQB: BRSF) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/BRSF

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