3D Printed Fluidic Swab for COVID-19 Testing with Improved Diagnostic Yield and User Comfort

Overview

Journal Nano Converg

Specialty Biotechnology

Date 2023 Sep 16

PMID 37715925

Authors

Joochan Kim

Jaehyung Jeon

Hyowon Jang

Youngkwang Moon

Abdurhaman Teyib Abafogi

Danny van Noort

Jinkee Lee

Taejoon Kang

Sungsu Park

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The current standard method of diagnosing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) involves uncomfortable and invasive nasopharyngeal (NP) sampling using cotton swabs (CS), which can be unsuitable for self-testing. Although mid-turbinate sampling is an alternative, it has a lower diagnostic yield than NP sampling. Nasal wash (NW) has a similar diagnostic yield to NP sampling, but is cumbersome to perform. In this study, we introduce a 3D printed fluidic swab (3DPFS) that enables easy NW sampling for COVID-19 testing with improved diagnostic yield. The 3DPFS comprises a swab head, microchannel, and socket that can be connected to a syringe containing 250 µL of NW solution. The 3DPFS efficiently collects nasal fluid from the surface of the nasal cavity, resulting in higher sensitivity than CS for the detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). This was confirmed by both reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and lateral flow assays (LFA) in virus-spiked nasal samples and clinical samples. Additionally, users reported greater comfort when using the 3DPFS compared to CS. These findings suggest that the 3DPFS can improve the performance of COVID-19 testing by facilitating efficient and less painful nasal sample collection.

Citing Articles

Integration of nanobiosensors into organ-on-chip systems for monitoring viral infections.

Zhang J, Kim M, Lee S, Park S Nano Converg. 2024; 11(1):47.

PMID: 39589620 PMC: 11599699. DOI: 10.1186/s40580-024-00455-0.

Advances in materials and technologies for digital light processing 3D printing.

Nam J, Kim M Nano Converg. 2024; 11(1):45.

PMID: 39497012 PMC: 11534933. DOI: 10.1186/s40580-024-00452-3.

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