We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies. Cookie Policy.

Features Partner Sites Information LinkXpress
Sign In
Advertise with Us
LGC Clinical Diagnostics

Download Mobile App




Events

ATTENTION: Due to the COVID-19 PANDEMIC, many events are being rescheduled for a later date, converted into virtual venues, or altogether cancelled. Please check with the event organizer or website prior to planning for any forthcoming event.

Manually Powered Device Separates Blood for Diagnosis

By LabMedica International staff writers
Posted on 16 May 2017
Print article
Image: The low-cost manual “paperfuge” was inspired by the whirligig toy, in which a loop of twine is thread through two holes in a button or disk. The loop ends are grabbed then rhythmically pulled. As the twine coils and uncoils, the button spins at a high speed. Bioengineers designed the paperfuge to concentrate parasites like malaria in blood (Photo courtesy of Stanford University).
Image: The low-cost manual “paperfuge” was inspired by the whirligig toy, in which a loop of twine is thread through two holes in a button or disk. The loop ends are grabbed then rhythmically pulled. As the twine coils and uncoils, the button spins at a high speed. Bioengineers designed the paperfuge to concentrate parasites like malaria in blood (Photo courtesy of Stanford University).
Inspired by a whirligig toy, researchers have used its mechanical principles to develop an ultra-low-cost, hand-powered blood centrifuge out of paper, no electricity required. The tool could improve diagnosis of diseases like malaria, African sleeping sickness, and tuberculosis in resource-poor, off-the-grid regions where these diseases are prevalent.

Bioengineers at Stanford University built the “paperfuge” using ~ 20 US cents of paper, twine, and plastic. With rotational speeds of up to 125,000 rpm, it can exert centrifugal forces of 30,000 Gs, and can separate blood plasma from red cells in 1.5 minutes.

“To the best of my knowledge, it’s the fastest spinning object driven by human power,” said Manu Prakash, assistant professor at Stanford. A centrifuge is critical to separate blood fractions to make pathogens simpler to detect: red cells collect at the bottom of the tube, plasma at top, and parasites like Plasmodium settle in the middle. Prof. Prakash recognized the need for a new type of centrifuge after seeing an expensive centrifuge being used as a doorstop in a rural clinic in Uganda because there was no electricity to run it.

“There are more than a billion people around the world who have no infrastructure, no roads, no electricity,” said Prof. Prakash. He began brainstorming ideas with Saad Bhamla, postdoctoral research fellow. After exploring ways to convert human energy into spinning forces, they began focusing on toys invented before the industrial age – yo-yos, tops, and whirligigs.

“One night I was playing with a button and string, and out of curiosity, I set up a high-speed camera to see how fast a button whirligig would spin. I couldn’t believe my eyes,” said Dr. Bhamla – it was rotating at 10,000-15,000 rpm. After two weeks of prototyping, he mounted a capillary of blood on a paper-disc whirligig and was able to centrifuge blood into layers.

It was a proof-of-concept, but before moving on in the design process, he and Prof. Prakash decided to tackle a scientific question no one else had: How does a whirligig actually work?

The other “string theory”: Dr. Bhamla recruited three undergraduate engineering students from MIT (Cambridge, USA) and Stanford to build a mathematical model. The team created a computer simulation to capture design variables like disc size, string elasticity, and pulling force. They also borrowed equations from the physics of supercoiling DNA strands to understand how hand-forces move from the coiling strings to power the spinning disc.

“There are some beautiful mathematics hidden inside this object,” Prof. Prakash said. Once the engineers validated their models against real-world prototype performance, they were able to create a prototype with rotational speeds of up to 125,000 rpm, a magnitude significantly higher than their first prototypes.

“From a technical spec point of view, we can match centrifuges that cost from USD 1,000 to USD 5,000,” said Prof. Prakash.

In parallel, they improved the device’s safety and began testing configurations that could be used to test live parasites in the field. From lab-based trials, they found that malaria parasites could be separated from red blood cells in 15 minutes. And by spinning the sample in a capillary precoated with acridine orange dye, glowing parasites could be identified by simply placing the capillary under a microscope.

They are currently conducting a paperfuge field validation trial for malaria diagnostics with PIVOT and Institut Pasteur, community-health collaborators based in Madagascar.

The invention was driven by a frugal toolbox design philosophy to rethink traditional medical tools to lower costs and bring capabilities out of the lab and into hands of healthcare workers in resource-poor areas. “Frugal science is about democratizing scientific tools to get them out to people around the world,” said Prof Prakash, who also hopes these tools will someday enable carrying a complete laboratory in a backpack into remote underserved areas.

The study, by Bhamla MS et al, was published January 10, 2017, in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering.

Flocked Swab
HydraFlock and PurFlock Ultra
Gold Supplier
PCR Microplate
SAPPHIRE MICROPLATE
New
Semi-Automatic Biochemistry Analyzer
CA-80
New
Cardiac Test
ImmunTech Cardiac Triple Test

Print article

Channels

Clinical Chem.

view channel
Image: Electrochemical cells etched by laser on wooden tongue depressor measure glucose and nitrite in saliva (Photo courtesy of Analytical Chemistry)

Biosensor-Fabricated Wooden Tongue Depressor Measures Glucose and Nitrite in Saliva

Physicians often use tongue depressors to examine a patient's mouth and throat. However, it is hard to imagine that this simple wooden tool could actively assess a patient's health. This idea has led to... Read more

Hematology

view channel
Image: The Atellica HEMA 570 and 580 hematology analyzers remove workflow barriers (Photo courtesy of Siemens)

Next-Gen Hematology Analyzers Eliminate Workflow Roadblocks and Achieve Fast Throughput

Hematology testing is a critical aspect of patient care, utilized to establish a patient's health baseline, track treatment progress, or guide timely modifications to care. However, increasing constraints... Read more

Immunology

view channel
Image: Newly observed anti-FSP antibodies have also been found to predict immune-related adverse events (Photo courtesy of Calviri)

First Blood-Based Biomarkers Test to Predict Treatment Response in Cancer Patients

Every year worldwide, lung cancer afflicts over two million individuals and almost the same number of people succumb to the disease. This malignancy leads the charts in cancer-related mortalities, with... Read more

Pathology

view channel
Image: The UNIQO 160 (CE-IVDR) advances diagnostic analysis for autoimmune diseases (Photo courtesy of EUROIMMUN)

Novel Automated IIFT System Enables Cutting-Edge Diagnostic Analysis

A newly-launched automated indirect immunofluorescence test (IIFT) system for autoimmune disease diagnostics offers an all-in-one solution to enhance the efficiency of the complete IIFT process, comprising... Read more

Technology

view channel
Electronic biosensor uses DNA aptamers for detecting biomarkers in whole blood samples (Photo courtesy of Freepik)

Electronic Biosensor Detects Biomarkers in Whole Blood Samples without Addition of Reagents

The absence of robust, reliable, and user-friendly bioanalytical tools for early and timely diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases, particularly sudden cardiac arrest, leads to preventable deaths and imposes... Read more

Industry

view channel
Image: The Coris acquisition provides Avacta with a broad, professional-use rapid test product portfolio (Photo courtesy of Coris Bioconcept)

Avacta Expands Diagnostics Portfolio with Acquisition of Rapid Test Maker Coris Bioconcept

Avacta Group plc (London, UK), a life sciences company developing oncology drugs and diagnostics, has acquired Coris Bioconcept SRL (Gembloux, Belgium) for an upfront cash consideration of GBP 7.... Read more
Copyright © 2000-2023 Globetech Media. All rights reserved.