The researchers first modeled the engineering properties of a whirligig toy, which they refer to as "a nonlinear, non-conservative oscillator," deriving the equation that governs its angular acceleration and torque. From this, the group developed theories about design that they used to guide and optimize development of the paperfuge.
The Stanford team's ultimate device was made of paper disks mounted with tiny plastic capillary tubes.
The group was able to demonstrate complete separation of plasma from red blood cells in 1.5 minutes using a finger-prick sample, or about 20 microliters, of whole blood. Experiments with human blood samples showed the device yielded 100 percent pure plasma.
The team also experimented with a design that included a plastic float in the capillary tube for quantitative buffy coat analysis.
Buffy coat typically contains white blood cells and platelets. However, this technique can be a critical component of certain kinds of blood parasite testing, since buffy coat mixed with the dye acridine orange will cause parasites to fluoresce under UV light.
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