Lila Kerr and Lauren Theis, undergraduates at Rice University, used ingenuity instead of engineering experience to invent their device.
Jeff Fitlow/Rice University
In places where food security is uncertain and malnutrition runs rampant, being able to test for anemia is essential. Doing so is a quick and simple proposition with a blood sample and centrifuge—a piece of equipment common in all medical labs. But in the developing world—where health care budgets are minimal and electricity unreliable—such basic equipment is a luxury. Now, two college students have an answer: The everyday salad spinner.
Sophomore Lila Kerr and Freshman Lauren Theis, both students at Rice University, began thinking about cheap and simple ways to test for anemia as part of project in Professor Rebecca Richards-Kortum's Introduction to Bioengineering and World Health class. Theis, a political science major, explains:
We were essentially told we need to find a way to diagnose anemia without power, without it being very costly and with a portable device.
Kerr, a sociology major, added that "there was a whole range of projects to take on this year, and luckily we got one that wasn't terribly engineering-intensive."
With just $30 in materials, anyone can turn a simple salad spinner into a life-saving medical device.
Instead of relying on engineering and technical know-how, the students focused on making the device from simple, readily-available materials. They modified a common, push-pump, salad spinner with plastic lids, cut-up combs, and yogurt containers, and put it all together with a hot glue gun. In all, the rudimentary centrifuge used $30 in materials.
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Spinning up to 30 tubes of blood at 950 rpm, the centrifuge—named the "Sally Centrifuge" after a prominent landmark on the Rice campus—takes 10 minutes to separate heavier red blood cells from lighter plasma. Once the two components are seperated, a simple caliper measures the ratio, giving near-instant results.
Tests by Rice engineering faculty found that results from the Sally Centrifuge compare to those from the ZIPocrit, a tiny battery operated device that is currently part of Rice's Lab-in-a-Backpack project.
Video courtesy Eureka Alert/Rice University
The ZIPocrit spins samples at 10,000 rpm and produces results in four to five minutes but requires electricity and can only spin four tubes at a time.
Plus, the simple Sally Centrifuge is more robust. Kerr commented:
It's all plastic and pretty durable...we haven't brought it overseas yet, of course, but we've trekked it back and forth across campus in our backpacks and grocery bags and it's held up fine.
This summer, the students will test their device in the field in Ecuador, Swaziland, and Malawi. If it survives, the Sally Centrifuge will put a new spin on upcycling: By turning a common doo-dad into lifesaving technology.
