An ultralow-cost portable centrifuge from discarded materials for medical applications

Abstract

Reliable centrifugation for medical applications has historically required access to expensive, bulky, and electricity-dependent commercial devices, which are generally unavailable in resource-poor settings. Although several portable, low-cost, non-electric centrifuges have been described, these solutions have predominately been designed for diagnostic applications requiring sedimentation of relatively small volumes. Moreover, construction of these devices frequently requires access to specialized materials and tools that are often unavailable in underserved areas. Herein, we describe the design, assembly, and experimental validation of the CentREUSE—an ultralow-cost, portable, discarded material-based, human-powered centrifuge for use in therapeutic applications. The CentREUSE demonstrated a mean centrifugal force of 10.5 relative centrifugal force (RCF) ± 1.3. Sedimentation of 1.0 mL triamcinolone acetonide suspension for intravitreal use after 3 min of CentREUSE centrifugation was comparable to that achieved after 12 h of gravity-mediated sedimentation (0.41 mL ± 0.04 vs. 0.38 mL ± 0.03, p = 0.14). Sediment compactness after 5 min and 10 min of CentREUSE centrifugation was similar to that observed after centrifugation with a commercial device for 5 min at 10 RCF (0.31 mL ± 0.02 vs. 0.32 mL ± 0.03, p = 0.20) and 50 RCF (0.20 mL ± 0.02 vs. 0.19 mL ± 0.01, p = 0.15), respectively. Templates and instructions for construction of the CentREUSE are included as part of this open-source publication.