Kumar Kirthika Senthil, Nguyen Tuan Dung, Kalairaj Manivannan Sivaperuman, Hema Vishnu Mani, Cai Catherine Jiayi, Huang Hui, Lim Chwee Ming, Ren Hongliang
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology, ASTAR Singapore, Fusionopolis Two, Singapore.
Front Robot AI. 2021 Mar 5;8:612959. doi: 10.3389/frobt.2021.612959. eCollection 2021.
Swabbing tests have proved to be an effective method of diagnosis for a wide range of diseases. Potential occupational health hazards and reliance on healthcare workers during traditional swabbing procedures can be mitigated by self-administered swabs. Hence, we report possible methods to apply closed kinematic chain theory to develop a self-administered viral swab to collect respiratory specimens. The proposed sensorized swab models utilizing hollow polypropylene tubes possess mechanical compliance, simple construction, and inexpensive components. In detail, the adaptation of the slider-crank mechanism combined with concepts of a deployable telescopic tubular mechanical system is explored through four different oral swab designs. A closed kinematic chain on suitable material to create a developable surface allows the translation of simple two-dimensional motion into more complex multi-dimensional motion. These foldable telescopic straws with multiple kirigami cuts minimize components involved in the system as the characteristics are built directly into the material. Further, it offers a possibility to include soft stretchable sensors for realtime performance monitoring. A variety of features were constructed and tested using the concepts above, including 1) tongue depressor and cough/gag reflex deflector; 2) changing the position and orientation of the oral swab when sample collection is in the process; 3) protective cover for the swabbing bud; 4) a combination of the features mentioned above.
拭子检测已被证明是诊断多种疾病的有效方法。在传统拭子采样过程中，潜在的职业健康危害以及对医护人员的依赖可以通过自我采样拭子来缓解。因此，我们报告了应用封闭运动链理论开发一种自我采样病毒拭子以采集呼吸道标本的可能方法。所提出的利用中空聚丙烯管的传感拭子模型具有机械柔顺性、结构简单和组件成本低的特点。详细地说，通过四种不同的口腔拭子设计探索了将滑块曲柄机构与可展开伸缩管状机械系统的概念相结合的方法。在合适材料上构建的封闭运动链以形成可展开表面，能将简单的二维运动转化为更复杂的多维运动。这些带有多个刻纸切口的可折叠伸缩吸管最大限度减少了系统中的组件，因为这些特性直接构建在材料中。此外，它还提供了纳入软质可拉伸传感器以进行实时性能监测的可能性。利用上述概念构建并测试了多种功能，包括1）压舌板和咳嗽/ gag反射偏转器；2）在样本采集过程中改变口腔拭子的位置和方向；3）拭子头的保护盖；4）上述功能的组合。
