1: Purpose of Hardware
The purpose of our hardware is to produce a simple, effective and affordable
bacteria sample dividing device.
Combined with our bacteria detection kit, our device can increase the utility
of at-home testing, which makes bacteria sample purification and detection more accessible.
In contrast to existing detection devices, which can only detect one bacteria strain,
our detection device enables quadruple (O157, VP, Se, st) detection at one time.
Figure 1: a bacterial test kit that operates
essentially the same as ours
but priced up to $12.99 and promises to give results in 24 hours.
2. Structure of Hardware
We adopted a minimalist design.
Four detection wells are connected to a central addition pit by thin sutures.
Four test papers which can detect four different bacteria strains respectively are pre-putted
in the four pits of device. A stick sticks out from the device, which makes it easier to hold.
Figure 2: An perspective view of bacillus sample dividing device.
3. Application of hardware
TFor our project, the separating device is used in the penultimate step
of the bacteria detection process.
The user can achieve the separation
by simply adding the configured detection liquid (with surfactant) to the center of the device.
Then it will be fed into the 37 ° C incubator for 30 min until the end of the process.
4. Limitation
Due to cost, this equipment does not have a cover,
so there may be leakage of pathogenic bacteria during detection.
We suggest you follow the guidelines in
Biosafety to prevent leakage.
5. Biosafety
5 You just need to place the device in a ventilated place until the test results come out.
If the test result is positive, you should sterilize it.
It is safe to put it into the garbage can after heating,
because the ABS material separator and protein nano magnetic beam complex
contained there is safe after heating.
6. Future prospect
The device can also be applied to other scenarios requiring liquid separation.
Its two major advantages are that it can separate liquid quickly and is cheap.
In addition, its small size and regular shape can allow it to be placed
in a sufficiently small incubator or stacked enough. All of the above characteristics
can make it play a good role in low-frequency or burst detection.
