October 2024 Mechanical Engineering Blog
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October 4, 2024
Caltech Develops First Ever Noninvasive Stroke Detecting Headset
Caltech Develops First Ever Noninvasive Stroke Detecting Headset
Scientists at Caltech and Keck School of Medicine recently announced the development of a new noninvasive headset that can predict if a patient is at risk of having a stroke in the future. The headset device utilizes infrared lasers to assess blood flow throughout the brain using a technique called speckle contrast optical spectroscopy (SCOS). The device shines infrared lasers through the skull, and once the scattered light comes in contact with the blood vessels in the brain, a special camera is able to measure decreases in light intensity from its entry point to where the camera captures it. This in turn gives scientists measurements that help them calculate blood volume in the vessels. The headset device also measures how light scatters into speckles, a metric that fluctuates based on the blood flow rate, essentially the speckle patterns change quicker as the blood flow rate increases. The researchers at Caltech carried out a study with 50 participants, they separated them into two groups, one that included participants who were at low risk of having a stroke, the other was a high-risk group. They found that the SCOS technique made it possible to assess the degree to which blood vessels expand and how rapidly blood blow increases during a breath holding test. These metrics provide valuable insights that help determine if a patient is at risk of a stroke. Researcher Yang said “These reactive measurements are indicative of vessel stiffness. Our technology makes it possible to make these type of measurements noninvasively for the first time.” Co- lead author Yu Xi Huang further noted, “What we found is clear, striking evidence of a different reaction of blood flow and blood volume between the two groups.” Learn more about this topic here.
October 19, 2024
New Solar Cell Cooling Device is Powered by Gravity Rather than Electricity
New Solar Cell Cooling Device is Powered by Gravity Rather than Electricity
An international team of scientists developed a novel solar cell cooling device that functions on gravity instead of electricity. Solar cell technology is used extensively in Saudi Arabia, yet the extreme desert like conditions in the country can sometimes cause solar cells to overheat. This creates the need for a cooling system that can function in arid environments and that does not require electricity. The new device is essentially an atmospheric water harvester. It collects water from the atmosphere and uses it to cool the solar cells. The problem with conventional water harvesting technology is that it requires electricity to collect reasonable amounts of water, this is especially true in arid environments such as Saudi Arabia. However, using electricity to power cooling technology for solar cells would defeat the purpose of using solar cell technology in the first place. Not to mention that it would impede the adoption of solar cell technology in rural areas, where it is needed the most. Researchers needed to overcome several challenges to create a device that could function without electricity. Ahmad a lead researcher on the project noted that "a common challenge in atmospheric water harvesting systems is that water droplets tend to remain pinned to the surface [of the device], necessitating active condensate collection.” They overcame this challenge by using a lubricant coating that consists of commercial polymer and silicon oil. The coating allowed them to harvest more water using only gravity. Ahmad further mentioned that the coating “effectively eliminated pinning, enabling true passive water collection driven by water.” Additionally, since the device functions completely on passive radiative cooling it does not need electricity. Learn more here.
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