3D -Fuge: A New Hand Powered Centrifuge

Last year at around this time we covered Paperfuge, a card stock based centrifuge that could spin QBC capillary tubes samples at ~10,000 g.

Using the principles laid out with Paperfuge, Gaurav Byagathvalli, Aaron Pomerantz, Soham Sinha, Janet Standeven, and M. Saad Bhamla have come up with 3D-Fuge detailed in a paper on the bioarxiv “A 3D-printed hand-powered centrifuge for molecular biology.”

This 3d-printed device can take up 2 mL samples, and can be adapted to take many different sorts of liquid contains from “capillary tubes and PCR tubes to nucleotide extraction spin column tubes.” Making it a much more flexible machine than Paperfuge. It doesn’t spin quite as fast though, the max g-force reported was ~2,100 g.

Of course, it’s no longer made out of card stock, so you will need access to a 3D printer. The STL files for printing 3D-Fuge are not attached as supplementary material but instead are hosted on Google Drive directly from Bhamla Lab.

The string used for 3D-Fugs is Dorisea Extreme Braid 500 lb 2.0 mm Fishing Line which will run you about ~$20 for 100 yards on Amazon. They tend to sell out of certain colors and lengths easily, so you may have to pay more depending on stocks. “String lengths were maintained at a standard 104 cm, and 3D-Fuges were coiled 50 times prior to centrifugation.” They also recommend the use of safety goggles when using the 3D-Fuge.