In an amazingly simple solution to the complex problem of providing healthcare in developing countries with limited access to electricity, two Rice University Students came up with a centrifuge made from a Salad Spinner!!
Rice University undergraduates Lila Kerr and Lauren Theis were presented with an assignment in their Introduction to Bioengineering and World Health class. As Theis 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.”
In a solution short on cost but long on ingenuity, the duo modified a basic, every day salad spinner into an easy to use and transport centrifuge that successfully separates blood to allow diagnosis of anemia with no electricity. The device costs about $30, can process 30 individual 15 microliter blood samples at a time, and can separate blood into its component red cells and plasma in about 20 minutes.
Simple, effective, and low cost health care tools for Third World Countries? Thats what SheThought!
How. Flippin. Awesome.
Finally a GOOD use for one of those “as seen on TV” promotional items!
Yep, we need MORE of that! Accessible science!
So simple as to make one think – why hasn’t somebody done it before
Superbly executed!