'Sally Centrifuge' - A Salad Spinner That Saves Lives!

While salad spinners, (those plastic bowls that 'spin' dry your leafy greens to keep them crisp), are useful kitchen tools, they are a one-trick pony. Now, two innovative girls have figured out a way to turn them into life saving devices!

As part of a Global Health Initiative, Rice University students, Lisa Kerr and Lauren Theis were challenged to come up with a low cost, portable way to diagnose anemia, without using power! After investigating various options, the two came with an ingenious solution - an old-fashioned salad spinner.

Modifying it a little with plastic lids, cut-up combs and yogurt containers, the two girls created a prototype centrifuge, that not only works manually, but also, costs less than $30USD.

Named after a University landmark, the Sally Centrifuge separates 15 micro liters of blood after just ten minutes of manual spinning. Since it is made of plastic, it is durable, light and very easy to transport.

The device is currently being tested in Ecuador, Swaziland and Malawi. Lisa and Lauren plan to continue fine-tuning it when they re-group, this fall.

Anemia, a condition when the body is unable to produce enough healthy red blood cells, is believed to affect over 2 billion people around the world. Caused largely due to malnutrition, it is very common in impoverished countries where food is scarce. The Sally Centrifuge is therefore expected to be very useful in these areas, which do not have the appropriate laboratories or equipment, to diagnose the disease.

sources:gizmag.com,inhabitat.com