IIIT-A scientists develop affordable device to separate plasma from blood in minutes
Prayagraj: In a ground-breaking development that promises to revolutionise healthcare, scientists from the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Allahabad (IIIT-A) have created a cost-effective device capable of separating plasma from blood within minutes.
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Presently it takes an average of 10 to 15 minutes to separate plasma from one unit of blood.
The device can also remove contamination from water within minutes.
The innovation is poised to dramatically reduce both time and cost currently associated with such processes.
This indigenous device, developed under a project funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), govt of India, was granted a 20-year patent.
The study was also published in the prestigious Royal Society of Chemistry journal in the United Kingdom.
Amit Prabhakar from the Department of Applied Sciences at IIIT-A, who led the project, said "The device works on the principle of hydrodynamic techniques, a simple yet highly effective application of general science. It uses micro-channels that allow one drop of purified liquid output per second. It can separate different blood components, be it red blood cells (RBC), white blood cells (WBC), platelets and plasma, and that too with high precision.
Likewise, when it comes to water purification, it efficiently filters out bacteria and suspended particles."
Highlighting the cost advantage, Amit said conventional machines for similar tasks can cost several lakhs of rupees, making them inaccessible to small clinics and rural health centres. In contrast, this device is expected to be made available at just Rs 1,000.
On scaling up, the cost of water filtration could be reduced further to as low as Rs 50–200 per unit, with a full multi-device setup costing approximately Rs 5,200.
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The project saw active participation from MTech students Ankur Jaiswar, Praveen Kumar, and Amar Dhwaj. The project was granted between 2015 and 2020, and after completing it, the team started filing patents. Up till now, they have filed five patents, out of which three were granted while two are under review.
Amit said one of the major advantages of this new water purification system is that it does not require a replaceable candle or membrane filter, unlike conventional RO systems.
"The device can filter out particles as small as 2 nanometres and as large as 10 micrometres. Additionally, in its 2022 upgrade, the team introduced a method to detect whether water was effectively purified, further improving its practical utility," he said.
"The product is still being refined to improve efficiency, but we already achieved success in the first phase, particularly in separating bacteria from water," shared Amit.
This innovation is expected to benefit both urban and rural populations, offering a sustainable and affordable alternative for blood processing and clean drinking water.
"With continued support, this could mark a major step forward in India's push for self-reliance in healthcare and sanitation technologies," he added.
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