Category Archives: NRV science

Community Conversations by Michael Abraham 

Elliot McAlister in his lab in Blacksburg, Va.

Elliot McAllister is pushing health care to a new level. The Blacksburg scientist is using a Star Trek like technology called microfluidics that shows promise to revolutionize medical diagnostics by making testing for a variety of illnesses cheap and fast, literally done by yourself at home. Imaging diagnosing cancer in your own body within 15 minutes for $20.

Microfluidics is the study of behavior of fluids through infinitesimally small micro- channels. Fluids like blood, saliva, and urine behave differently on a microfluidic scale than under normal conditions, and thus these new ways can be tracked and analyzed to show the condition of the human body. Elliot is using innovative 3-D printers of his own design and development to create this sub-sub-sub-miniature devices, literally from his garage/workshop at his home in the Merrimac community outside Blacksburg.

The son of a professor of microbiology, Elliot has a degree in Mechanical
Engineering from the University of New Hampshire and a Masters Degree in Materials Engineering from Virginia Tech. He began his career with a fledgling

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Jacob Martin, an engineering student at Virginia Tech, drops off a half dozen blue shield frames made on his 3D printer.

By Bill Kovarik 

The call went out on April 29: Anyone with a 3-D printer in the New River Valley, please contact Prof. Alex Leonessa or students at Virginia Tech.

By Thursday May 7, over 1,500 plastic shield frames had been collected at a drop-off point at the engineering department.  More were coming in by the hour, but at least 5,000 had been requested by NRV Carilion and Montgomery Lewis Gale hospitals, according to Jacob Martin, one of the engineering school student volunteers.

The frames are an essential part of the personal protective equipment used in treating COVID-19 in area hospitals.  While it’s easy to cut a new transparent plastic shield for the front,  a frame to hold the shield in place makes it far more protective and useful.

Arnav Garg, a Blacksburg High School student, said he became involved in the project through Tech’s covid response team. Garg is working with some of the engineering students on adaptations of 3D printable items for better ICU protection.

The frame designs are downloadable though the Virginia Tech website, and printable on 3-D units that take spools of plastic and turn them into useful and decorative objects.

Nurses at the Carilion NRV center are wearing 3-D printed face shield frames  (which are the red, blue and orange strips you see holding up the clear plastic shield). They are being made by volunteers in the region and collected at the Goodwin engineering building. (Virginia Tech photo)

Other voices:
“Virginia Tech Seeks Community Help,” April 30, Roanoke Times.

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