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(The Gist of Science Reporter) CSIR-NCL Develops Nasopharyngeal Swabs

[August-2020]

CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory (CSIR-NCL), Pune, has developed an indigenous Nasopharyngeal (NP) swab for collecting samples from the throat cavity of COVID-19 patients. In the current pandemic scenario, global supplies of NP swabs are not dependable resulting in supply chain delays, escalating prices and variable quality.
Nasopharyngeal swab is a medical device with stringent specifications of quality, polymer grade, dimensions and sterilization. The NP swabs consist of a cylindrical plastic stick with a brush-like tip of synthetic bristles/flocks. Flocking is a very important processing step in the manufacture of medical swabs, which is to align the fine bristles in a parallel orientation on the stick head, much like a tooth brush, except that this has round uniform geometry and the NP swab bristles are of a micron diameter.
CSIR-NCL has transferred the process knowhow of indigenous NP swabs for sample collection to a Mumbai based chemical company under the COVID-19 technology transfer guidelines of CSIR.