Open Development and Clinical Validation Of Multiple 3D-Printed Sample-Collection Swabs: Rapid Resolution of a Critical COVID-19 Testing Bottleneck.

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has caused a severe international shortage of the nasopharyngeal swabs that are required for collection of optimal specimens, creating a critical bottleneck in the way of high-sensitivity virological testing for COVID-19. To address this crisis, we designed and executed an innovative, radically cooperative, rapid-response translational-research program that brought together healthcare workers, manufacturers, and scientists to emergently develop and clinically validate new swabs for immediate mass production by 3D printing. We performed a rigorous multi-step preclinical evaluation on 160 swab designs and 48 materials from 24 companies, laboratories, and individuals, and shared results and other feedback via a public data repository (http://github.

Open Development and Clinical Validation of Multiple 3D-Printed Nasopharyngeal Collection Swabs: Rapid Resolution of a Critical COVID-19 Testing Bottleneck.

The pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused a severe international shortage of the nasopharyngeal swabs that are required for collection of optimal specimens, creating a critical bottleneck blocking clinical laboratories' ability to perform high-sensitivity virological testing for SARS-CoV-2. To address this crisis, we designed and executed an innovative, cooperative, rapid-response translational-research program that brought together health care workers, manufacturers, and scientists to emergently develop and clinically validate new swabs for immediate mass production by 3D printing. We performed a multistep preclinical evaluation of 160 swab designs and 48 materials from 24 companies, laboratories, and individuals, and we shared results and other feedback via a public data repository (http://github.