LSU Health Shreveport is using a 3D printer to mass-produce nasal swabs for their COVID-19 testing lab. Molecular and cellular physiology professor Dr. Steven Alexander hopes the extra swab availability will lead to testing of individuals who are not showing any symptoms
“We want to expand that to be able to test a lot more people that may be asymptomatic so that we can catch them and contain and sort of flatten the curve,” said Alexander.
Alexander says they have obtained the swab design printing files to produce the resin polymer nasal swabs and hope to be producing nearly 1,000 swabs daily.
“We have the capacity by the end of the week to have three printers printing 324 per day,” said Alexander.
Alexander says the light-activated printing technique can produce medical devices which are chemically inert, sterile, and compatible with accurate testing procedures.
“So far as we are aware, these nasal swabs perform as well as, if not more superior to, existing swabs,” said Alexander.
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