$51 "Lab-in-a-Backpack" Uses Upcycled Hard Drives to Perform Quick, Low-Cost COVID-19 Testing
The CentriDrive system, at the heart of this compact low-cost lab kit, is driven by an Arduino and removes hard drives from e-waste streams.
Scientists from Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) have showcased a lab-in-a-backpack, designed to offer a low-cost portable solution for COVID-19 testing — and powered by upcycling old computer hard drives into open source Arduino-powered centrifuges.
"We are excited for the potential of this mobile lab to do COVID-19 tests and the possibility to democratize access to inexpensive testing technology," says corresponding author Stoyan Smoukov, professor at QMUL, of the work. "It is made possible by our philosophy of creating low-cost instruments whenever possible from advances in electronics, or existing instruments."
Based on the reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) testing method, which offers similar sensitivity to PCR testing, the backpack contains everything required to process six saliva samples in 90 minutes at a cost in chemicals of $3.50 per sample processed - less than half the cheapest off-the-shelf LAMP test.
Key to the "lab," which costs just $51 excluding the backpack in which it is stored, is a compact centrifuge dubbed "CentriDrive," built from upcycled computer hard drives salvaged from e-waste streams and driven by Arduino Nano microcontrollers. The CentriDrive can be driven from a rechargeable battery, or connected to an automobile battery for use in-the-field.
"Reuse is a high value option for energy and materials sustainability, and we are glad that rather than exporting electronics waste to developing countries, we can export ways to empower people and turn waste computer hard drives into a centrifuge," Smoukov says. "The COVID-19 test is a timely application, but we also believe with this CentriDrive kit people could perform a large array of routine blood and urine tests, providing a centrifuge away from central hospital facilities."
"In this study, using the LAMP test method in combination with a low-cost centrifuge, we provided an inexpensive, rapid and accurate method for the detection of COVID-19," says lead author Emily Lin. "It will not only provide a viable and inexpensive test kit for regions such as Africa, where innovative solutions are particularly important during the COVID-19 pandemic; it can also be used in resource-rich areas, for example, in high school classrooms to demonstrate how to test for COVID-19."
"Combining open access science with open source hardware lets everyone in the world to test this for themselves with minimal resources," Smoukov adds. "Perhaps this royalty-free invention will let people tinker and educate themselves and others on how different blood or virus tests work, or the simplicity and cost advantage may inspire people to base a company around it."
The team's work has been published under open-access terms in the journal PLOS One.