The two health systems designed the swabs with Formlabs, a Boston-based 3D-printing company, which plans to make hundreds of thousands of them.
Some health experts have estimated that the U.S. needs to conduct as many as 30 million COVID-19 tests per day to fully reopen the economy, but swabs needed to conduct the tests have been in short supply across the country.
The 3D-printed swabs are made of resin, a liquid plastic that hardens. The health systems tested them against standard test swabs to make sure they were effective and comfortable for patients.
Hospitals with 3D printers can make the swabs on-site, and Northwell Health now makes about 5,000 swabs per day for its hospitals using the 3D-printed design, CNBC reported. The health system plans to scale up to 7,500 to 8,000 per day.
University of South Florida Health makes about 10,000 swabs per week for Tampa General Hospital and its clinics.
Formlabs has started making the swabs at its resin plant in Ohio and plans to make 100,000 per day, according to CNBC.
Other tech and 3D-printing companies also plan to make similar swabs, including EnvisionTEC and HP, CNBC reported.
Read the full article here.
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