A Hand-Powered, Portable, Low-Cost Centrifuge for Diagnosing Anemia in Low-Resource Settings

Brown, Jocelyn; Theis, Lauren; Kerr, Lila; Zakhidova, Nazima; O'Connor, Kelly; Uthman, Margaret; Oden, Z. Maria; Richards‐Kortum, Rebecca

doi:10.4269/ajtmh.2011.10-0399

Cited by 68 publications

(71 citation statements)

References 11 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Using a laboratory centrifuge and digital image evaluation, the presence of anemia, and the typing of sickle disease (homo-vs heterozygous) could be performed with high sensitivity and specificity. One could envision this system being used with recently reported hand-powered centrifuges [55]. However, despite this method's promise, field-testing thus far shows that the performance drops outside of lab settings, with sensitivity and specificity of 86 and 60%, respectively, being obtained [53].…”

Section: Anemiamentioning

confidence: 96%

“…One example is the colorimetric imaging of blood for anemia detection, described above [59]. Another example of non-microscopic imaging is digital evaluation of macroscopic images of blood, such as to determine hematocrit [55] or sickle disease [54] as described above. In these systems, although no images of the blood are obtained at the cellular level, clearly important diagnostic parameters can still be extracted from the image data.…”

Section: Non-microscopy Optical Imaging Modalitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Development of inexpensive blood imaging systems: where are we now?

Chu

Smith

Wachsmann‐Hogiu

2015

Expert Review of Medical Devices

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Clinical applications in the developing world, such as malaria and anemia diagnosis, demand a change in the medical paradigm of expensive care given in central locations by highly trained professionals. There has been a recent explosion in optical technologies entering the consumer market through the widespread adoption of smartphones and LEDs. This technology commoditization has enabled the development of small, portable optical imaging systems at an unprecedentedly low cost. Here, we review the state-of-the-field of the application of these systems for low-cost blood imaging with an emphasis on cellular imaging systems. In addition to some promising results addressing specific clinical issues, an overview of the technology landscape is provided. We also discuss several key issues that need to be addressed before these technologies can be commercialized.

show abstract

Section: Anemiamentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Non-microscopy Optical Imaging Modalitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of inexpensive blood imaging systems: where are we now?

Chu

Smith

Wachsmann‐Hogiu

2015

Expert Review of Medical Devices

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Currently, centrifugation is inaccessible in field conditions since conventional machines are bulky, expensive and require electricity (4). The need for electricity-free centrifugal bio-separation devices prompted researchers to use egg-beaters and salad-spinners as proposed devices (6,7). However, these suffer from bulky design and extremely low rotational speeds (max 1,200 rpm; 300 g), leading to impractical centrifugation times for a simple task of blood plasma separation (> 10 mins).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paperfuge: An ultra-low cost, hand-powered centrifuge inspired by the mechanics of a whirligig toy

Bhamla

Benson

Chai

et al. 2016

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

One sentence summary: By uncovering the dynamics of a classical toy, we invent a paper-based, low-cost (20 cents) centrifuge, capable of 125,000 rpm, using only hand-power. 1All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.(which was not peer-reviewed) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity.The copyright holder for this preprint . http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/072207 doi: bioRxiv preprint first posted online Abstract Sample preparation, including separation of plasma from whole blood or isolation of parasites, is an unmet challenge in many point of care (POC) diagnostics and requires centrifugation as the first key step. From the context of global health applications, commercial centrifuges are expensive, bulky and electricity-powered, leading to a critical bottle-neck in the development of decentralized, electricity-free POC diagnostic devices. By uncovering the fundamental mechanics of an ancient whirligig toy (3300 B.C.E), we design an ultra-low cost (20 cents), light-weight (2 g), human-powered centrifuge that is made out of paper ("paperfuge").To push the operating limits of this unconventional centrifuge, we present an experimentallyvalidated theoretical model that describes the paperfuge as a non-linear, non-conservative oscillator system. We use this model to inform our design process, achieving speeds of 125,000 rpm and equivalent centrifugal forces of 30,000 g, with theoretical limits predicting one million rpm. We harness these speeds to separate pure plasma in less than 1.5 minutes and isolate malaria parasites in 15 minutes from whole human blood. By expanding the materials used, we implement centrifugal microfluidics using PDMS, plastic and 3D-printed devices, ultimately opening up new opportunities for electricity-free POC diagnostics, especially in resource-poor settings.

show abstract

“…4 Of particular concern is that the lack of access to electricity is associated with negative public health outcomes. Without electricity, there are significant hindrances to the effective provision of many health services 5 such as the ability to properly refrigerate vaccines, perform diagnostics, 6 provide indoor lighting, and-the focus of this project-to sterilize medical instruments. Without electricity, medical instrument sterilization using autoclaves, called wet sterilization, is compromised.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Validation of the Efficacy of a Solar-Thermal Powered Autoclave System for Off-Grid Medical Instrument Wet Sterilization

Kaseman¹,

Boubour²,

Schuler³

2012

The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. This work describes the efficacy of a solar-thermal powered autoclave used for the wet sterilization of medical instruments in off-grid settings where electrical power is not readily available. Twenty-seven trials of the solarthermal powered system were run using an unmodified non-electric autoclave loaded with a simulated bundle of medical instruments and biological test agents. Results showed that in 100% of the trials the autoclave achieved temperatures in excess of 121 C for 30 minutes, indicator tape displayed visible reactions to steam sterilization, and biological tests showed that microbial agents had been eliminated, in compliance with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention requirements for efficacious wet sterilization.

show abstract

A Hand-Powered, Portable, Low-Cost Centrifuge for Diagnosing Anemia in Low-Resource Settings

Cited by 68 publications

References 11 publications

Development of inexpensive blood imaging systems: where are we now?

Development of inexpensive blood imaging systems: where are we now?

Paperfuge: An ultra-low cost, hand-powered centrifuge inspired by the mechanics of a whirligig toy

Validation of the Efficacy of a Solar-Thermal Powered Autoclave System for Off-Grid Medical Instrument Wet Sterilization

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About