3D-printed alternatives to standard flocked swabs were rapidly developed to provide a response to the unprecedented and sudden need for an exponentially growing amount of diagnostic tools to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. In light of the anticipated shortage, a hospital-based 3D-printing platform was implemented in our institution for the production of swabs for nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal sampling based on the freely available, open-source design provided to the community by University of South Florida's Health Radiology and Northwell Health System teams as a replacement for locally used commercial swabs. Validation of our 3D-printed swabs was performed with a head-to-head diagnostic accuracy study of the 3D-printed "Northwell model" with the cobas PCR Media swab sample kit. We observed an excellent concordance (total agreement 96.8%, Kappa 0.936) in results obtained with the 3D-printed and flocked swabs, indicating that the in-house 3D-printed swab could be used reliably in the context of a shortage of flocked swabs. To our knowledge, this is the first study to report on autonomous hospital-based production and clinical validation of 3D-printed swabs.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8473445 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/v13091752 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
High-sensitivity detection of DNA in tongue swab samples.
J Clin Microbiol
December 2024
Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
Article Synopsis
- Tongue swab (TS) sampling combined with quantitative PCR (qPCR) shows promise as an alternative to sputum testing for tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis, although previous studies indicated lower sensitivity.
- Two strategies were evaluated to enhance sensitivity: one involved centrifugation to concentrate MTB DNA, achieving 83% sensitivity and 100% specificity, while the other utilized sequence-specific magnetic capture, resulting in 90% sensitivity and 97% specificity.
- These findings suggest that with further development, these methods could lead to more accessible and effective TB testing options.
High-sensitivity detection of DNA in tongue swab samples.
medRxiv
July 2024
Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States of America.
Unlabelled: Tongue swab (TS) sampling combined with qPCR to detect (MTB) DNA is a promising alternative to sputum testing for tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis. In prior studies, the sensitivity of tongue swabbing has usually been lower than sputum. In this study, we evaluated two strategies to improve sensitivity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSERS Platform for Integrated Enrichment, Isolation, and Identification of Multiple Respiratory Viruses in a Single Assay Using 3D Stereoscopic SERS Tags and Flocked Swabs.
Anal Chem
August 2024
College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, P. R. China.
Influenza (flu) and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) exhibit similar clinical symptoms, complicating the diagnosis and clinical management of these critical respiratory infections. Thus, there is an urgent need for rapid on-site detection technologies that can simultaneously detect SARS-CoV-2 and influenza A viruses. Here, we have developed the first platform that combines in situ sampling with immune swabs and multichannel surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) for simultaneous screening of these two respiratory viruses in a single assay.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF3D printed rectal swabs for assessing the gut microbiome, metabolome and inflammation.
Sci Rep
July 2024
Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, UK.
Investigating the gut microbiome and metabolome frequently requires faecal samples, which can be difficult to obtain. Previous studies have shown that rectal swabs are comparable to faecal samples for analysing gut microbiota composition and key metabolites. In this study, 3D printed rectal swabs were compared with conventional flocked swabs and faecal samples, due to the potential advantages 3D printing as a technique offers for swab production and development.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPerformance characteristics of "lollipop" swabs for the diagnosis of infection with SARS-CoV-2.
Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis
September 2024
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health Department of Pediatrics Madison, WI, United States.
Background: Common biologic samples used to diagnose COVID-19 include nasopharyngeal, nasal, or oropharyngeal swabs, and salivary samples. The performance characteristics of a sucked "lollipop" swab to detect SARS-CoV-2 virus is assessed in four small sub-studies.
Methods: In each sub-study, a flocked swab was sucked for 20 s and submitted for PCR detection of SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!