How air-powered computer systems can forestall blood clots

A brand new, air-powered laptop units off alarms when sure medical gadgets fail. The invention is a extra dependable and lower-cost means to assist forestall blood clots and strokes—all with out digital sensors.

Described in a paper within the journal Machine, the pc not solely runs on air, but additionally makes use of air to difficulty warnings. It instantly blows a whistle when it detects an issue with the lifesaving compression machine it’s designed to observe.

Intermittent pneumatic compression or IPC gadgets are leg sleeves that fill with air periodically and squeeze an individual’s legs to extend blood circulate. This prevents clots that result in blocked blood vessels, strokes, or dying. Usually, these machines are powered and monitored by electronics.

“IPC gadgets can save lives, however all of the electronics in them make them costly. So, we wished to develop a pneumatic system that eliminates a number of the electronics, to make these gadgets cheaper and safer,” mentioned William Grover, affiliate professor of bioengineering at UC Riverside and corresponding paper writer.

Pneumatics transfer compressed air from place to put. Emergency brakes on freight trains function this manner, as do bicycle pumps, tire stress gauges, respirators, and IPC gadgets. It made sense to Grover and his colleagues to make use of one pneumatic logic system to manage one other and make it safer.

Any such system operates in the same solution to digital circuits, by making parity bit calculations. “To illustrate I wish to ship a message in ones and zeroes, like 1-0-1, three bits,” Grover mentioned. “Many years in the past, folks realized they might ship these three bits with one further piece of knowledge to ensure the recipient acquired the best message.”

That additional piece of knowledge is known as a parity bit. The bit is a quantity—1 if the message incorporates an odd variety of ones, and 0 if the message incorporates an excellent variety of ones. Ought to the primary seem on the finish of a message with an excellent variety of bits, then it’s clear the message was flawed. Many digital computer systems ship messages this manner.

An air-powered laptop makes use of variations in air stress flowing by way of 21 tiny valves to rely the variety of ones and zeroes. If no error in counting has occurred, then the whistle does not blow.

If it does blow, that is an indication the machine requires repairs. Grover and his college students, in a video demonstrating the air laptop, are proven damaging an IPC system with a knife, rendering it unusable. Seconds later, the whistle blows.

“This system is in regards to the measurement of a field of matches. It replaces a handful of sensors in addition to a pc,” Grover mentioned. “So, we are able to scale back prices whereas nonetheless detecting issues in a tool. And it is also utilized in excessive humidity or excessive temperature environments that are not splendid for electronics.”

The IPC system monitoring is just one software for air computing. For his subsequent undertaking, Grover wish to design a tool that might remove the necessity for a job that kills folks yearly: shifting round grain on the high of tall silos.

Tall buildings filled with corn or wheat, grain silos are a typical sight within the Midwest. Typically occasions, a human has to go inside with a shovel to interrupt up the grains and even out the piles inside.

“A outstanding variety of deaths happen as a result of the grain shifts and the particular person will get trapped. A robotic may do that job as an alternative of an individual. Nonetheless, these silos are explosive, and a single electrical spark may blow a silo aside, so an digital robotic might not be your best option,” Grover mentioned. “I wish to make an air-powered robotic that might work on this explosive atmosphere, not generate any sparks, and take people out of hazard.”

Air-powered computing is an concept that has been round for no less than a century. Individuals used to make air-powered pianos that might play music from punched rolls of paper. After the rise of contemporary computing, engineers misplaced curiosity in pneumatic circuits.

“As soon as a brand new expertise turns into dominant, we lose consciousness of different options to issues,” Grover mentioned. “One factor I like about this analysis is that it may well present the world that there are conditions at this time when 100-plus-year-old concepts can nonetheless be helpful.”