Homogenization of Nanopore Membrane Filters Utilized in Wastewater Infectious Disease Surveillance

Sparked by the COVID-19 global pandemic, there has been a renaissance of infectious disease surveillance techniques looking at tracking and categorizing disease as it spreads through a population. The utility of wastewater sampling for infectious particles gained popularity from local college campuses to country wide surveillance programs to help identify the presence of viral variants and predict oncoming surges in cases. While there are multiple methodologies proposed for these wastewater sampling techniques, many of them rely on filtration systems to capture the infectious particles on electronegative membranes or tissue culture grade nanopore filters. Once the particles have been captured on these membranes, the critical step in the process is to release as many of the particles as possible during processing to allow to accurate downstream detection. Herein, we demonstrate the utility of mechanical homogenization via bead beating technology for the complete disruption of these filters for downstream molecular analysis.