Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA; Laboratory of Systems Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA; Laboratory of Systems Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA; Biological and Biomedical Sciences Program, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
J Virol Methods. 2021 Aug;294:114153. doi: 10.1016/j.jviromet.2021.114153. Epub 2021 May 10.
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an unparalleled need for viral testing capacity across the world and is a critical requirement for successful re-opening of economies. The logistical barriers to near-universal testing are considerable. We have designed an injection molded polypropylene anterior nares swab, the Rhinostic, with a screw cap integrated into the swab handle that is compatible with fully automated sample accessioning and processing. The ability to collect and release both human and viral material is comparable to that of several commonly used swabs on the market. SARS-CoV-2 is stable on dry Rhinostic swabs for at least 3 days, even at 42 °C, and elution can be achieved with small volumes. To test the performance of the Rhinostic in patients, 119 samples were collected with Rhinostic and the positive and negative determinations were 100 % concordant with samples collected using Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) use approved nasal swabs at a clinical lab. The Rhinostic swab and barcoded tube set can be produced, sterilized, and packaged cost effectively and is designed to be adopted by clinical laboratories using automation to increase throughput and dramatically reduce the cost of a standard SARS-CoV-2 detection pipeline.
COVID-19 大流行导致全球对病毒检测能力的需求空前巨大，这是成功重启经济的关键要求。接近普及的检测存在相当大的后勤障碍。我们设计了一种注塑聚丙烯前鼻拭子，称为 Rhinostic，拭子柄上集成了螺旋盖，与全自动样本采集和处理兼容。收集和释放人体和病毒物质的能力可与市场上几种常用拭子相媲美。SARS-CoV-2 在干燥的 Rhinostic 拭子上至少稳定 3 天，即使在 42°C 下也是如此，并且洗脱可以用小体积实现。为了在患者中测试 Rhinostic 的性能，用 Rhinostic 采集了 119 个样本，阳性和阴性的确定与在临床实验室使用经临床实验室改进修正案 (CLIA) 批准的鼻拭子采集的样本完全一致。Rhinostic 拭子和带条形码的试管套装可以以具有成本效益的方式生产、消毒和包装，并旨在被临床实验室采用自动化来提高通量，并大大降低标准 SARS-CoV-2 检测管道的成本。
