TAGS: Medical
3D Printing
The University of South Florida (USF) Health, Formlabs and Northwell Health have announced they have successfully produced and tested a 3D printed nasal swab to address emergency shortages that hospitals and health care teams may face as testing for COVID-19 increases.
Design, Development and Production
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 3D Clinical Applications Division created an initial design, working with Northwell Health and collaborating with Formlabs to develop prototypes and secure materials for a 3D printed alternative. For 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’ 3D 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, 3D printers at USF Health and Northwell Health will produce the swabs and provide them to their patients.
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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.”
New Proven and Safe Design
The team of researchers immediately began working to create a novel design in a printed material that was proven safe for patients using Formlabs’ surgical grade resin as soon as they were notified of the shortage of swabs.
The researchers reached out to Northwell Health and Formlabs to work with us on this response initiative. With the collaborators in USF Health Infectious Diseases, researchers have been able to validate the printed swabs utility for this purpose and are extremely optimistic about the pending clinical testing results.
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With 3D 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”, said Summer Decker, PhD, associate professor in the USF Health Morsani College.
Helping Healthcare Providers Treat COVID-19 Patients
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When we saw that the testing kits were limited in supply, our 3D printing lab immediately changed focus from creating materials for surgeries to designing and creating materials that help our front-line healthcare providers treating COVID-19 patients”, said Todd Goldstein, PhD, Director of Northwell Health 3D Design and Innovation.
In one weekend, researchers worked together to develop a nasal swab prototype and tested it in the lab. After the positive testing results, researchers started producing 1,000-1,500 swabs per day. Not only will these swabs be provided to the Northwell Health patients, but also the design was shared with other institutions that can 3D print, so that patients across the country can benefit from the work.
Source: University of South Florida