Flexible Nasal Self Swab

myminifactory

FLEXIBLE TPU Self nasal swab design.     Filament: Flexible TPU (I used TRONXY), non-toxic, can be autoclaved repeatedly without becoming brittle. Bend point prevent damage to nasal mucosa.  Round area marks average ideal sample collection site. Print up to 20 at a time on a Flashforge Finder stage.  Each swab about 5-9 minutes at high resolution with flexible filament (~ 0.17 meter).     Theory: The "Well" version collects secretions and cells in the central pools and the broom version gently wipes the mucosal surfaces to collect secretions (and cells) between areas on the end of the broom.  In passing, I called it a nasal broom because that sounds better then a Nasal Rake. Design Parameters: - designed using Design Spark- needs to be flexible and non toxic- should collect cells in secretions- must not damage nasal mucosa- inexpenmsive, can make 1k/day  on 10 inexpensive 3D printers Procedure: Tilt head back, insert swab (into nose). Advance swab in the right or left nares up to but not farther than the round area on the stem, twist the end between your fingers for 5-10 seconds, withdraw and place in a Transport media tube.  Disclaimer:  This is a pre-pilot feasibility study with anecdotal observations.  I'm not telling anyone to produce these or stick anything up your nose (or anyone else's).  I'm sharing what I designed, how I designed them, how I thought this project through and yes, how I self tested them.