Running short on capital around the office and need an inexpensive diagnostic device for detecting hepatitis? This could be the solution, 
get an egg beater. Actually this was a report from Harvard on how the device can be used in developing countries where access to more sophisticated equipment is in short supply or not available at all.
If it is functional and saves lives, I’m all for it. It does sound a bit strange that something this simple could turn out to be beneficial with diagnosing some very serious diseases. BD
The low-cost centrifuge replacement can separate plasma from blood in minutes, which is used in tests to detect lethal infectious diseases responsible for half of all deaths in developing countries.
George Whitesides and colleagues at Harvard University, US, say the plasma obtained is easily good enough to use in tests to detect diseases such as Hepatitis B and cysticercosis.
“The object was to separate serum [plasma] from blood using readily-obtained materials in a resource-constrained environment,” explains Whitesides.
Contrast this with the bulky, sensitive commercial centrifuges, costing thousands of dollars and requiring extensive operation training, and it’s easy to see how this development could save lives. The user can even prepare several samples at once – just by taping more lengths of tubing to the beater.
http://www.physorg.com/news143271774.html
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