When researchers at the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia needed a lab scanner, but didn't have the cash to pay for it, they didn't panic. Instead, Angel Maqueira and his colleagues bought a bog-standard CD player — and hacked it, saving themselves a potential $70,000 in the process.
By soldering two additional light sensors inside the CD player, and then using software, the researchers were able to control how the device "played" a disk. The substance to be analyzed (in this case, the team was trying to detect traces of three different pesticides in various samples) was then placed on a normal compact disc, and inserted into the machine.
While the first light sensor identified where the sample was on the disc, using black marks on the edge of the disc, the second analyzed the sample itself, measuring the amount of laser light that was able to pass through the disk. Normally, discs reflect around 30 percent of the laser beam onto the reading head, while the rest passes through.
The sample, half a millimeter in size, was treated to produce dye or silver that was inversely proportional to the amount of pesticide in the sample. Using the modded CD player, they could detect pesticide levels as low as 0.02 micrograms per liter just by seeing how much laser light passed through the disc to the second sensor.
While it may not be as accurate as genuine lab sensors, which can cost between $42,000 and $85,000, the hacked CD player is accurate enough for many laboratory tasks — some experts think the cheap and cheerful device would work wonders in developing countries, helping the fight against Malaria, for instance. And the shorter wavelength lasers of Blu-ray and HD DVD technology will make the process even easier. [New Scientist]
Editor and Contributor | Martin Lynch
Contributor | Tamlin Magee
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How on earth can this help with malaria? In the third world malaria is diagnosed using a pricker to draw blood, a glass slide to put it on, dye to stain it with, and a microsocope to see the parasites. What kind of pathetic selling point are they trying to make - given that most of this target group doesn't even have reliable exelctricity to run this device...
It's a step up from nothing, isn't it? I mean, sure some areas don't have reliable electricity, but others DO- and you can obtain what otherwise you would need to run these devices for FAR under $85,000! It truly would be reliable!
Of course, the likelihood is that some asshole will come along, take the idea, ban people from hacking CD drives, and add a huge price tag. They do it with medicine all the time.