Electricity-Free Centrifuge For Covid Testing Developed

Device spins tubes containing saliva at high speeds to separate virus genome from other components, eliminating the need for power

NEW YORK: Researchers, led by an Indian scientist, have developed a cheap, electricityfree centrifuge to separate components in patient saliva samples for the detection of the novel coronavirus, an innovation that may increase accessibility of Covid-19 diagnostics in poor regions of the world.

According to the scientists, including Manu Prakash from Stanford University, the ‘Handyfuge’ device spins tubes containing patient saliva at very high speeds, enough to separate the virus genome from other components in the sample, without needing electricity. They said the cheap centrifuge, described in a yetto-be peer-reviewed study published in the platform medRxiv, can be assembled using readily available components for a cost less than $5 per unit.

It can allow clinicians and scientists to carry out a quick and cheap diagnostic technique called the LAMP assay to detect the presence of the novel coronavirus genome in patient saliva samples, the scientists noted.