Advanced manufacturing company OPT Industries has used computational design techniques to create a medical swab that aims to improve clinical testing during the coronavirus pandemic and beyond.
The InstaSwab is made of precisely engineered polymer fibres, each thinner than a human hair.
Five different InstaSwab models by OPT Industries
These fibres are arranged into patterns that allow the swab to morph, twist and expand more than a traditional cotton or nylon swab.
This means that the swab can absorb more fluid than regular swabs and expel it quickly when squeezed into a vial, which provides a higher sample concentration for better diagnostics, OPT Industries said.
The pattern of fibres in each bulb allows the swab to morph, twist and expand After developing the innovation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab, designer and researcher Jifei Ou founded OPT Industries to mass-produce the InstaSwab.
Ou was able to manufacture throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, when traditional swabs were in short supply. The company believes its product is ideal for rapid diagnostic kits requiring high sample sensitivity, such as those used during the pandemic.
For Covid-19 testing, there are nasopharyngeal, mid-turbinate, anterior and saliva-based sampling swabs
"As an advanced manufacturing company, we see the value in building micro-scale technologies that solve macro-scale challenges," said OPT Industries.
"Taking inspiration from systems built by nature, th...