Chinese researchers have invented a device that separates plasma from blood without using electricity and at 99.9% efficiency.
A local news agency reported on 28 February that the researchers from the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences developed the device based on the principle of negative magnetophoresis.
The device is said to have potential for broader applications in point-of-care testing and medical emergencies where traditional centrifuges can’t work.
Filling the gap
Centrifuges have been known to be the means of separating plasma from whole blood for decades.
However, they have their limitations where rapid and efficient separation of small amounts of plasma is required, such as in point-of-care testing or small animal model research.
This is where the efficient, power-free whole blood separation device comes in. It works under the influence of an external magnetic field to separate plasma from whole blood.
Under such influence, the diamagnetic particles and paramagnetic medium will generate negative magnetophoretic force due to different magnetic susceptibility, pushing the diamagnetic particles or cells to the minimum of the non-uniform magnetic field.
The new device can adjust the processing volume per cycle from 100 microliters to 3 milliliters, and can separate 3 milliliters of whole blood in as fast as 1 minute, while maintaining the near perfect efficiency.
Introducing versatility
Traditional centrifuges need electricity to run, so they are usually tethered to a wall in a lab and not suitable for outdoor use and require a decent amount of blood to separate, thus limiting its suitability.
With this new device, plasma separation can be done outdoors or at any other location where electricity is not available or only a small quantity of blood is to be separated, such as the case of rats’ blood.
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