Development of an Assistive Device for Improving the Consistency and Safety of Nasopharyngeal Swab Sampling

This study proposes a new assistive device that ensures consistency and improves safety in sample collection for detecting upper respiratory diseases such as COVID-19. The COVID-19 pandemic and the various mutations of the coronavirus have increased the demand for swab-sampling–based specimen collection. Currently, the most accurate method of collecting respiratory specimens is to insert a cotton swab through the nasal passage and touch the nasopharyngeal wall. Here, the success of sampling is subjectively determined by the force applied to the swab; test results may therefore vary based on the degree of training of the medical staff, and excess force can sometimes cause pain and aftereffects in patients. Therefore, we developed a device that measures the force applied to the swab when it is inserted up to the nasopharyngeal wall and indicates this to medical staff with an audiovisual signal. In this study, we introduce the details of the sample collection devices and validate the developed device through phantom model experiments. The results of five model experiments confirm that when both visual and auditory signals were given to medical staff, more consistent swab sampling was achieved than the conventional method without signals.