Frugal Science Meets Sample Prep: A Field-Ready Lyophilizer for Biofluids

🎤Rajas Poorna and Charles Anderson

What if you could dry biofluid samples in the field—without a vacuum system, freeze dryer, or full lab setup?

In this episode of Concentrating on Chromatography, I sit down with Rajas Poorna and Charles Anderson to explore their work on a frugal, field-deployable alternative to traditional lyophilization through the Evapinator project.

Originally inspired by the principles of frugal science, their approach rethinks how we stabilize and prepare biofluid samples like blood and plasma—especially in environments where traditional lab infrastructure simply isn’t available.

What This Episode Covers:

A Frugal Take on Lyophilization

Can you replicate the outcome of a lyophilizer without the complexity?
Why traditional freeze drying is often too expensive and impractical for field use
How simplifying evaporation could unlock entirely new workflows

Drying Biofluids in the Field

The real-world challenge of handling blood and other biofluids outside the lab
Why sample stability during transport is such a critical bottleneck
How a portable system could enable on-site sample prep in remote or resource-limited settings

Rethinking Evaporation (No Vacuum Required)

The core idea behind the Evapinator—and how it challenges conventional assumptions
The role of airflow, heat, and design in drying sensitive samples
Where this approach fits relative to traditional evaporation and lyophilization techniques

Early Results & Practical Insights

What’s working so far—and where limitations still exist
The types of applications where this approach shows the most promise
What still needs to be validated in upcoming peer-reviewed work

Why This Matters

From clinical research in remote regions to decentralized diagnostics, the ability to dry and preserve biofluid samples in the field could fundamentally change how and where analysis happens.

This conversation challenges a core assumption in analytical science:

Do you really need a full lyophilizer—or even a vacuum—to stabilize biofluid samples?

Video Transcription

The interview opens with a welcome to an episode of Concentrating on Chromatography. The host introduces guests Rajas Poorna and Charles Anderson and asks about their scientific backgrounds and how they became involved in solving evaporation challenges.

Scientific background and project origin

Rajas explains that he is trained as a physicist and is now pursuing a PhD in bioengineering. His lab focuses on building low-cost scientific equipment to make science more accessible, especially for schools and low-resource settings. This work is part of a broader “frugal science” approach, where students and researchers develop affordable versions of instruments that are normally expensive.

The original challenge came from synthetic biology education. High school teams working on synthetic biology projects needed access to equipment such as lyophilizers, but conventional systems can cost tens of thousands of dollars. The team therefore began exploring whether a more affordable lyophilizer-like system could be built for education and field use.

Charles describes joining the project early in his undergraduate studies. He was drawn to it because it had a clear practical purpose and seemed like something that could become useful outside the laboratory rather than remaining only a research prototype.

Why evaporation became the key challenge

The discussion turns to the practical limitations of traditional evaporation and drying systems. Rajas explains that during a collaboration in Thailand, researchers working on Raman spectroscopy for tuberculosis diagnostics needed to dry blood-derived samples before transporting them to a central laboratory. They used a centrifugal vacuum evaporator, but the system was slow, expensive, and difficult to service when it broke down.

This experience led to a central question: could sample drying be achieved without a vacuum? Rajas notes that everyday drying processes, such as drying clothes, do not require vacuum. This insight opened the path toward a simpler, smaller, lower-cost and potentially battery-powered drying system.

How Rajas and Charles began collaborating

Charles explains that he met the lab’s principal investigator while discussing a different project. He was then invited to work on what would later become the Evaponator. At the beginning, the project was still small and exploratory.

Rajas adds that Charles joined at a stage when the team was trying to understand the physics and engineering behind vacuum-free drying. Within a few months, they developed a prototype costing under 100 USD that could dry samples much faster than the conventional vacuum evaporator used by collaborators.

Main limitations of conventional drying systems

The interview identifies several major limitations of existing evaporation technologies:

• High cost
• Limited reliability in remote or low-resource settings
• Long drying times
• Poor field portability
• Challenges with sterility and cross-contamination

Charles emphasizes that freeze drying can take 12–24 hours, which is impractical for field use. Rajas adds that centrifugal vacuum evaporators are not necessarily sterile and may pose a risk of cross-sample contamination. Together, these challenges shaped the requirements for the Evaponator.

What the Evaponator is

Charles introduces the Evaponator as a low-cost, portable drying system designed to dry small numbers of samples quickly without a vacuum chamber. The name was inspired by an episode of Phineas and Ferb.

The system is based on the same principles as drying clothes: low humidity, gentle heating and airflow. Instead of using vacuum, the Evaponator generates dry air, directs it over the sample, removes moisture through a cold trap and repeats the process in a closed or semi-closed loop.

The current design is aimed at drying approximately four 1 ml samples, which fits the intended use case of field diagnostics or low-throughput sample collection in remote settings.

How the system works

Rajas explains the operating principle in more detail. Moist air is passed through a cooled metal block using a thermoelectric cooler. As the air cools, moisture condenses inside the cold trap, producing dry air. This dry air is then directed over warmed samples, helping water evaporate while keeping the sample temperature moderate.

The system can operate in a loop to improve efficiency. HEPA filtration and aerosol filtration help prevent contamination. The team also developed an ozone-based sterilization approach, allowing the device to sterilize itself using ozone generated from air rather than relying on consumables such as ethanol or peroxide.

To prevent sample-to-sample contamination, the design uses separate airflow paths for individual samples, which merge only later in the system.

Design assumptions and engineering constraints

A key design assumption is that not every drying process needs sublimation or deep vacuum. For the biofluid applications targeted by the Evaponator, the team works around 40 °C, a temperature chosen because it is close to fever temperature and should be mild enough for many biological samples.

The engineering constraints included:

• Use of widely available components
• No specialized machining
• Bill of materials under 100 USD
• Low power consumption
• Portability
• Simple assembly
• Robust airflow without splashing or sample loss

Charles notes that the team intentionally selected accessible parts, including components similar to those used in computer cooling systems, vacuum-cleaner-style HEPA filters and disposable pipette tips for directing airflow.

Sample types and solvents

The prototype is currently focused mainly on aqueous biological samples. Rajas explains that using organic solvents such as ethanol would introduce ignition risks with the current architecture, so the early work is focused on water-based samples and biofluids.

Charles adds that the system is intended primarily for blood-derived fluids, urine, saliva and similar samples where the target analytes can remain stable after drying and rehydration.

Potential analytical applications

The Evaponator is being developed for field sample preparation rather than as a replacement for every laboratory evaporator. The main idea is to dry samples near the point of collection, transport them more easily and then rehydrate them before analysis.

Potential use cases include:

• Field diagnostics
• Biofluid sample stabilization
• Remote sample collection
• Clinical or public-health testing in low-resource settings
• Applications where dried plasma, serum, urine or saliva can later be analyzed
• Situations where conventional dried blood spot methods lack enough sample volume

Rajas notes that red blood cells may not be suitable for drying directly because they can rupture, so serum or plasma is expected to be more appropriate. He also points out that oxygen exposure during forced-air drying still needs further testing for oxygen-sensitive analytes.

Current development status

Charles explains that the project is approaching important validation milestones, especially around batch-to-batch and sample-to-sample sterility. The ozone cleaning system appears promising because it may reduce the need for cleaning consumables, aside from inexpensive items such as pipette tips and occasional filter replacement.

He also mentions tests with trehalose-based solutions and collaboration with a Georgia Tech startup working on room-temperature-stable mRNA vaccines. In that context, the Evaponator was able to dry samples in about 30 minutes, compared with 12–24 hours using previous drying approaches.

Commercialization and future direction

Rajas explains that the team is exploring commercialization and has participated in a startup accelerator. They are investigating where the technology could have the strongest product-market fit, with particular interest from cost-sensitive and geographically dispersed healthcare settings, including India.

The goal is to move beyond a lab prototype toward a manufacturable, user-friendly device with a straightforward interface and reliable sealing, sterilization and operation.

Closing remarks

The interview concludes with the host thanking Rajas Poorna and Charles Anderson for sharing the technical and practical challenges behind the Evaponator. Both guests emphasize that the conversation was a valuable opportunity to explain the project in depth and reflect on its progress.

This text has been automatically transcribed from a video presentation using AI technology. It may contain inaccuracies and is not guaranteed to be 100% correct.

Concentrating on Chromatography Podcast

Dive into the frontiers of chromatography, mass spectrometry, and sample preparation with host David Oliva. Each episode features candid conversations with leading researchers, industry innovators, and passionate scientists who are shaping the future of analytical chemistry. From decoding PFAS detection challenges to exploring the latest in AI-assisted liquid chromatography, this show uncovers practical workflows, sustainability breakthroughs, and the real-world impact of separation science. Whether you’re a chromatographer, lab professional, or researcher you'll discover inspiring content!

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