Innovative Project Solves UCLA Health’s COVID-19 Testing Swab Shortage With 3D-Printed Swabs

On June 5, 2020 Newswise released a statement stating that the UCLA Biodesign program that was launched in April yielded positive results, solving the health system’s shortage of nasopharyngeal swabs – a key element in COVID-19 testing.

“With the rapid spread of the new coronavirus, testing supplies – especially nasopharyngeal swabs – were suddenly in high demand and short supply on a local, national, and even global scale. After working with a variety of manufacturers to test various designs, we now have a secure source to supply all of UCLA Health’s swabs as the need for COVID-19 testing continues to grow,” said Gabriel Oland, MD, a general surgery resident at UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine and a fellow in the UCLA Biodesign program, who helped lead the effort to test swabs that could be manufactured swiftly and in large quantities. 

Unlike swabs with woven fiber at the tip – similar in appearance to cotton swabs found in stores for consumer use, but made with longer shafts and sterile, spongy materials – UCLA Health’s new swabs, like many others, consist of a single plastic material from tip to tip, with a lattice design to collect a sample at one end.

“Given that it’s only using one material, 3D printing is perfect for rapid output,” Oland said. 

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