Lab creates 3-D printed nasal swabs during emergency shortage
The University of South Florida (USF) Health, Formlabs, a leading 3-D printing company, and Northwell Health, New York’s largest healthcare provider, have announced they have successfully produced and tested a 3-D printed nasal swab to address emergency shortages that hospitals and health care teams may face as testing for COVID-19 increases.
Key milestones in testing the swabs were conducted by USF Health faculty researchers in the Departments of Radiology and Infectious Diseases in collaboration with Northwell Health, including validation testing (24-hour, 3-day, and leeching), and rapid clinical testing at Northwell Health and Tampa General Hospital. All testing showed that the 3-D printed nasal swabs perform equally to standard swabs used for testing for COVID-19.
After identifying that nasal swabs for testing COVID-19 were in high demand and extremely limited in supply, a team from the USF Health’s 3-D Clinical Applications Division created an initial design, working with Northwell Health and collaborating with Formlabs to develop prototypes and secure materials for a 3-D printed alternative. Over the span of one week, the teams worked together to develop a nasal swab prototype and test it in the USF Health and Northwell Health labs. In two days, USF Health and Northwell Health, using Formlabs’ 3-D printers and biocompatible, autoclavable resins, developed prototypes. The swabs were tested by clinicians at Northwell Health, USF Health and Tampa General Hospital for patient safety and comfort. Now that clinical validation is complete, 3-D printers at USF Health and Northwell Health will produce the swabs and provide them to their patients.
“This is a prime example of the incredible impact we can have on human lives when teams of experts across academia, health care delivery, and the tech industry come together,” said Charles J. Lockwood, MD, MHCM, senior vice president for USF Health and dean of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. “During this current COVID-19 outbreak, there is little time for delay, and the swift, agile and adept action of everyone on this effort will greatly improve this nation’s ability to test patients.”
“When we were notified of the shortage of swabs by Dr. Lockwood, we immediately began working as a team to create a novel design in a printed material that was proven safe for patients, as is Formlabs’ surgical grade resin,” said Summer Decker, Ph.D., associate professor in the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and director for 3-D Clinical Applications in USF Health’s Department of Radiology. “We reached out to Northwell Health and Formlabs to work with us on this response initiative. With our collaborators in USF Health Infectious Diseases, we’ve been able to validate the printed swabs utility for this purpose and are extremely optimistic about the pending clinical testing results. With 3-D printed swabs, we will be able to add thousands of swabs a day to testing kits developed here at USF Health, and treat more patients safely and effectively. We look forward to continuing to work with Northwell Health and Formlabs to further combat the COVID-19 pandemic.”[…]
medicalxpress
Robot could make testing faster and safer
Reliable, accurate COVID-19 testing is necessary for controlling the spread of the novel coronavirus and reopening the US. But the nation has faced a number of obstacles, including a shortage of tests and long wait times for results, due in part to the fact that most testing is done manually. And the process puts lab technicians at increased risk of contracting the virus.
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To speed up the testing process and protect lab workers, software and robotics company Bright Machines is leading an effort to develop a robotic system that can process COVID-19 test samples with little human involvement. Automating the lab testing process would also allow testing to be done 24/7, greatly increasing the volume of tests done per day, according to the company.“I’ve been a part of projects where people think ‘robots are trying to take my job,’ but in this case it’s really saving lives,” said Hagai Bar, system engineer at Bright Machines. “You’re just replacing all that unnecessary manual work.”
Bright Machines typically works with electronics manufacturers on “microfactories” — combinations of hardware and software used to assemble and inspect products. The COVID-19 testing machine — a collaboration with Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital Laboratory,? Impact Lab and iCobots — uses standard Bright Machines building blocks: A robotic cell, a dual-conveyor, a robotic arm and a vision system. The robot is programmed to open the different-sized test tubes, drawing samples from the patient test tube to the control tube, and the vision system works to verify performance throughout the process, Bar said.
The machine will soon be moved to Ichilov Hospital Laboratory. Once installed, it will likely take a few more weeks for it to be fully operational, Bar said. It’ll provide the system at no cost for up to 12 months. A number of testing facilities around the world have also gotten in touch with the company about the solution, and those conversations are ongoing, he added. […]
CNET
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