Transactions on Additive Manufacturing Meets Medicine
Vol. 2 No. 1 (2020): Trans. AMMM
https://doi.org/10.18416/AMMM.2020.2009007

Anti-Corona Aids and Devices

Design of 3D-printable nasopharyngeal swabs in Matlab for COVID-19 testing

Main Article Content

Yilun Sun (Institute of Micro Technology and Medical Device Technology, Technical University of Munich, Garching, Germany), Alexandra Mercader (Institute of Micro Technology and Medical Device Technology, Technical University of Munich, Garching, Germany), Tim C. Lueth (Institute of Micro Technology and Medical Device Technology, Technical University of Munich, Garching, Germany)

Copyright (c) 2020 AMMM

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Abstract

As an important diagnostic device for detecting respiratory infections, the nasopharyngeal swab is running out of supply due to the fast spread of COVID-19. In this short paper, we present a novel design platform in Matlab for realizing patient-specific nasopharyngeal swabs that can be quickly 3D-printed to fill the swabs’ shortage. Firstly, the swab is realized with our geometry modeling tool using the size derived from the patient’s CT data. Then, Selective-Laser-Sintering (SLS) is employed to print the swab using polyamide as biocompatible material. A printed swab is also presented to demonstrate the performance of the proposed design platform.

Article Details

How to Cite

Sun, Y., Mercader, A., & Lueth, T. C. (2020). Design of 3D-printable nasopharyngeal swabs in Matlab for COVID-19 testing. Transactions on Additive Manufacturing Meets Medicine, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.18416/AMMM.2020.2009007