From the paper in Nature Biomedical Engineering:
In a global-health context, commercial centrifuges are expensive, bulky and electricity-powered, and thus constitute a critical bottleneck in the development of decentralized, battery-free point-of-care diagnostic devices. Here, we report an ultralow-cost (20 cents), lightweight (2 g), human-powered paper centrifuge (which we name 'paperfuge') designed on the basis of a theoretical model inspired by the fundamental mechanics of an ancient whirligig (or buzzer toy; 3,300 BC). The paperfuge achieves speeds of 125,000 r.p.m. (and equivalent centrifugal forces of 30,000 g), with theoretical limits predicting 1,000,000 r.p.m. We demonstrate that the paperfuge can separate pure plasma from whole blood in less than 1.5 min, and isolate malaria parasites in 15 min. We also show that paperfuge-like centrifugal microfluidic devices can be made of polydimethylsiloxane, plastic and 3D-printed polymeric materials. Ultracheap, power-free centrifuges should open up opportunities for point-of-care diagnostics in resource-poor settings and for applications in science education and field ecology.
The lead inventor, Manu Prakash, is the recipient of a MacArthur "genius grant", and deservedly so. He also has an elegant portal web page on the Stanford site.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by bob_super on Thursday January 12 2017, @08:20PM
Prior art: David was a genius inventor who used a slingshot to separate plasma and whole blood from Goliath.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 12 2017, @08:32PM
No time for slacking, more human powered electricity! Just like ...
(Let me see, have the old people of SN seen the Black Mirror episode yet? Doubtful. Best not to reference it.)
... in Soylent Green!
(Score: 3, Informative) by Arik on Thursday January 12 2017, @08:40PM
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Thursday January 12 2017, @08:53PM
Correct.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 13 2017, @12:58PM
Nothing ridiculous about teh bible!
(Score: 2) by jasassin on Thursday January 12 2017, @11:08PM
David killed Goliath in 1025BC. Your prior art claim is bogus. Sad that it was modded so informative. Whirligig 3,300BC. That's 2275 years before David slew Goliath!
jasassin@gmail.com GPG Key ID: 0xE6462C68A9A3DB5A