A salad spinner served as inspiration for a novel low-cost centrifuge.

A pair of undergraduate researchers at Rice University (Houston) are putting a new spin on medical device design. As the basis for a student project, students Lila Kerr and Lauren Theis employed a salad spinner as the core component of a low-cost, rudimentary centrifuge. Such creative thinking helps to pave the way for future cost-effective devices with the potential to improve healthcare in developing countries.

As part of an Introduction to Bioengineering and World Health course, the students were tasked to develop a portable, low-cost, no-power method for diagnosing anemia. By combining the salad spinner with plastic lids, yogurt containers, and a hot-glue gun, the students were able to design and assemble the centrifuge for less than $30. 

Once engineered, the centrifuge performed its designated function in tests. The students put capillary tubes containing 15 µl of blood into the device and manually spun them, ultimately achieving separation of the blood into heavier red blood cells and lighter plasma. Effectively separating the blood allows for diagnosis of malnutrition, tuberculosis, malaria, and HIV/AIDS. 

This creative device inspired by an ordinary kitchen tool is a great example of design innovation. Along the same lines, MPMN noted the similar ingenious engineering approach to microfluidics taken last year by Michelle Khine, who used the children's toy Shrinky Dinks to accomplish her design goal.

While engineers are making progress daily in the lab, it seems as though the playroom and kitchen can also serve as settings for inspired medical device design. Sometimes the solutions to high-tech problems can be surprisingly low tech and simple.