A deceptively simple whirling disk on a string could revolutionize medical treatment in rural clinics.
Most innovations in technology are generally associated with a colossal price tag, and in few other areas is this more prevalent as it is in the field of medicine -- it's not uncommon to for medical machinery to have a few zeros at the end of a dauntingly high number. In addition, the equipment usually isn't portable and often requires clean and reliable electricity, making it difficult for the vast millions living in rural areas to accesses these life-saving devices.
An example is a centrifuge -- a common medical device that is, for example, used to separate plasma in a sample of blood. These devices are used to detect life-threatening diseases like HIV and malaria. Unfortunately, a centrifuge can run up to a few lakhs of rupees, and require a constant supply of electricity.
Inspired by a children’s toy, Stanford scientists have now developed light and low-cost alternative to a centrifuge. And the best part is, it requires no electricity.
“There are a billion people on this planet who live with no electricity, no infrastructure, no roads, and they have the same kind of health care needs that you and I have,” Manu Prakash, co-invented of the Paperfuge.
Based on a whirligig -- a popular children’s toy consisting of a cardboard disk that is spun by pulling a length of looped thread passing through its center -- the Paperfuge is surprisingly similar. It is constructed using a paper disc, a tiny circular piece of plastic with a hole in the middle, and some string. With handles attached to both ends of the customised whirligig to make it easier to use, the Paperfuge converts linear motion (the two hands pulling the thread apart) into rotational motion. This spinning can effectively separate plasma in the vial of blood fitted in the center of the disc. Pulling on the handles will cause the button to spin very swiftly, approximately 10,000 to 15,000 rpm, creating up to 30,000 G-forces. In comparison, a conventional centrifuge spins at about 15,800 rpm.
“This is a toy that I used to play with as a kid,” said Saad Bhamla, co-invented of the Paperfuge, “the puzzle was that I didn’t know how fast it would spin. So I got intrigued and I set this up on a high-speed camera and I couldn’t believe my eyes,” he said.
“There is a value in this whimsical nature of searching for solutions, because it really forces us outside our own sets of constraints about what a product should actually look like,” said Prakash.
The team’s research is detailed in the journal of Nature Biomedical Engineering.
In a video made by Stanford University, Manu Prakash and Saad Bhamla discuss what went into creating the Paperfuge:
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