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New blood steriliser • uses microwave energy One of the real scourges of the nineties is the AIDS virus. No one who develops full blown AIDS survives more than a few years so there is a huge research effort in developing drugs for its treatment. Now a Sydney engineer has hit upon using microwave energy to sterilise AIDScontaminated blood - a development which may become very significant in the next few years. This new process for the sterilisation of AIDS contaminated blood is the subject of a patent application (Application PK 7302 - Australian Patent Office - assigned to Jamiri Holdings Pty Ltd). It relies for its effect on nuclear magnetic resonance. Electromagnetic energy can be used to selectively excite atoms, molecules or cells with great precision. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) has been used to study cancer cells for almost 20 years, specifically for the measurement of proton density. The proposer of this new blood treatment, Graham Rogers, has drawn upon his expertise in the use of microwaves for heating and sterilisation, to make it quite specific - namely, to treat human blood. The process is aimed specifically at viruses, namely HIV, AIDS and Hepatitis A & B. His patent application details the theory of resonance and the concept of resonant ionisation spectroscopy using tuneable pulsed lasers. Basic concept The concept of his device is to selectively ionise or remove cells or a virus from blood by the use of microwave energy. This is to be accomplished by passing the blood through a spiral coil into an RF chamber where it will be irradiated at a specific resonant frequency and power level. After being irradiated, the blood is removed from the chamber where it is cooled rapidly to avoid any deterioration of the blood itself. No other treatment of the blood would be necessary although it might have to be passed through the sterilisation process more than once to be 100% effective. Nor would there be any degradation of the blood cells Coming Next Month In SILICON CHIP* 40W 12VDC To 24VAC Inverter This 12VDC to 240VAC 50Hz inverter uses a transformer, two low cost power Mosfets and a minimum of other parts to drive electric shavers and other small appliances. It can also be used to provide a variable frequency drive to telescopes. 50 Watt Per Channel Stereo Amplifier After a long period of development, we hope to publish the first article on this high performance midi-sized amplifier next month . It is very quiet and is modular in design. Coming Soon - Transmitter For VCRs With VHF Modulators . Our TV Transmitter can now be used with VCRs that have a VHF modulator. We've simply added a UHF modulator in front of the amplifier stage & the device now accepts the direct video from the VCR. Details in the March issue. *While these articles are in an advanced state of preparation, their inclusion in the nominated issue will depend on space availability. 82 SILICON CHIP the microwave chamber, the blood will be rapidly cooled by passing it through a vortex tube powered by compressed air. Prototype blood reactor A prototype sterilisation unit was brought to the premises of SILICON CHIP magazine for a photographic session. It was not as described in the patent application but many of the principles were similar. Essentially, the prototype is an industrial microwave oven with microprocessor control of power level, fluid temperatures and pumping rate. Instead of using an air-driven vortex for cooling, :the prototype employed a Seebeck semiconductor cooling device. The unit was not demonstrated and even it had been, we had no access to testing facilities to verify the process. Field tests This prototype sterilisation unit looks much like a microwave oven with an extra chamber below. The latter holds the Seebeck semiconductor cooling device, a pump, cooling fans and air filters. themselves or any effect on blood antibodies. The close control of the process is supposed to see to that. The patent application goes on to detail the construction of the microwave chamber, the pumping and cooling equipment and the source of the microwave energy. The microwave source is to be based on a conven- WHERE DO YOU GET IT? o~ (f.~ tional magnetron and a mains power supply except that the power level will be able to be set very precisely and the microwave frequency set by a tuneable waveguide. The temperature of the blood will be closely controlled at all times by a microprocessor based monitoring system. After it has been removed from At the time of writing, full scale tests of the process had not been carried out and so it is not possible to state whether the process is effective or not. However, undertakings had been obtained for tests to be carried out in the first quarter of 1992 at a major Sydney teaching hospital. Graham Rogers also has offers to run full scale tests in a number of countries. He expects to begin Australian tests soon. We hope that the process does prove to be effective. If so, it could be of major benefit in controlling AIDs and other blood related diseases. SC QLD'S LARGEST SUPPLIER OF MICROWAVE OVEN PARTS & ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS SHARP REPLACEMENT PARTS DISTRIBUTORS FOR Panasonic . .n • AKAi e CAR STEREO e TV e VCRs e STEREO e BUSINESS EQUIPMENT e WHITEGOODS e VIDEO CAMERAS e PHONES e MICROWAVE OVENS A RANGE OF MAGNETRONS, DIODES, CAPACITORS & SHEET MICA TO SUIT MANY MODELS & BRANDS OF MICROWAVE OVEN IEBI EDSONFIELDPTYLTD (A.C.N. 010378588). 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