Rapid Fabrication of Sterile Medical Nasopharyngeal Swabs by Stereolithography for Widespread Testing in a Pandemic.

ABSTRACT: The 3D printing of nasopharyngeal swabs during the COVID-19 pandemic presents a central case of how to efficiently address a break in the global supply chain of medical equipment. Herein a comprehensive study of swab design considerations for mass production by stereolithography is presented. The retention and comfort performance of a range of novel designs of 3D-printed swabs are compared with the standard flocked-head swab used in clinical environments. Sample retention of the 3D swab is governed by the volume, porosity density, and void fraction of the head as well as by the pore geometry. 3D-printed swabs outperform conventional flock-head swabs in terms of sample retention. It is argued that mechanically functional designs of the swab head, such as corkscrew-shaped heads and negative

SUBMITTER: van der Elst LA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7645949 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature