Nightmare

It may not have been long since we met Covid-19, but we continue to get to know many new concepts and objects in our lives. For example, there is a concept that the body produces antibodies… the pcr test is another concept for example… There is also a swab test that is a fearful dream !!!

I think we have all experienced the first step of the Covid-19 test, which hypnotizes us like a magic wand with a long nose and mouth. How many of us know the story of this magic wand?

There are many ways and methods of manufacturing test sticks. When we queued for tests, suddenly everyone had an idea about the long-shank scrapers. There were questions about effectiveness, and discomfort was a common complaint. There were concerns that there might be a shortage of cotton swabs. Several recent innovations have helped address these concerns. Today, Technimark announced that it has partnered with Rhinostics and iMFLUX to produce, package and distribute individually packaged nasal swabs to help detect and diagnose potential infections such as COVID-19. Production of medical grade polypropylene swabs began in April at Technimark's headquarters in Asheboro, NC, where swabs are injection molded and packaged in an ISO Class 8 cleanroom, sterilized prior to distribution. Technimark specializes in precision injection molding, assembly and complete supply chain services for healthcare and other markets at facilities in the United States, Mexico, United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany and China. Rhinostics is a Boston-based initiative founded last year to "revolutionize sample collection" and optimize the time and effort spent analyzing samples in laboratories. Swab allows for collection from the front of the nose while improving sample concentration. The injection molded polypropylene nose bar was developed by P&G and iMFLUX, a subsidiary of P&G that offers low constant pressure injection molding software invented by P&G. Rhinostics is licensed to bring the cotton swab to the clinical lab market. The new swab allows for easy collection from the front of the nose, reducing patient discomfort and reportedly absorbs up to a 30-fold increase in sample concentration compared to conventional swabs. "We are proud to partner with Technimark, iMFLUX and P&G to bring new collection devices such as the P&G nose stick to the clinical lab workflow," said Cheri Walker, CEO of Rhinostics. "Nasal swab production not only helps alleviate bottlenecks in the supply chain, but also provides convenient collection and sample concentration due to the new design and polypropylene material, dry shipment and better release of viral particles."

3D printed nose bars feature small woven meshes Meanwhile, Jifei Ou, who received information from nearly seven years of 3D printing research at MIT Media Lab, has developed a new type of nose bar for COVID-19 testing. Since March 2020, he has been working with hospitals to improve the design of swabs by applying the thin, hair-like structures that Ou developed at MIT. The finely woven meshes inside the rods allow them to absorb and release more liquid than conventional wipes, according to the MIT website statement.

No more ache and fearful dreams in tests… actually the real fear is the hope that the pandemic will end !!!