Ultra-absorptive Nanofiber Swabs for Improved Collection and Test Sensitivity of SARS-CoV-2 and other Biological Specimens.
Alec D McCarthyLorenzo SaldanaDaniel N AckermanYajuan SuJohnson V JohnShixuan ChenShelbie WeihsSt Patrick ReidJoshua L SantarpiaMark Alan CarlsonJingwei XiePublished in: Nano letters (2021)
Following the COVID-19 outbreak, swabs for biological specimen collection were thrust to the forefront of healthcare materials. Swab sample collection and recovery are vital for reducing false negative diagnostic tests, early detection of pathogens, and harvesting DNA from limited biological samples. In this study, we report a new class of nanofiber swabs tipped with hierarchical 3D nanofiber objects produced by expanding electrospun membranes with a solids-of-revolution-inspired gas foaming technique. Nanofiber swabs significantly improve absorption and release of proteins, cells, bacteria, DNA, and viruses from solutions and surfaces. Implementation of nanofiber swabs in SARS-CoV-2 detection reduces the false negative rates at two viral concentrations and identifies SARS-CoV-2 at a 10× lower viral concentration compared to flocked and cotton swabs. The nanofiber swabs show great promise in improving test sensitivity, potentially leading to timely and accurate diagnosis of many diseases.
Keyphrases
- sars cov
- healthcare
- respiratory syndrome coronavirus
- primary care
- circulating tumor
- induced apoptosis
- oxidative stress
- high resolution
- cell proliferation
- cystic fibrosis
- gene expression
- cell death
- big data
- endoplasmic reticulum stress
- multidrug resistant
- biofilm formation
- health insurance
- room temperature
- ultrasound guided
- candida albicans