CRN_01 "Hummingbird" Diagnostic Swabs – circular alternative with a simplified production process
CRN_01 swabs are a response to shortages of supplies during Covid-19 pandemic. The aim was to simplify their manufacturing, allowing for local production. Nowadays, the swabs are made in two stages: injection molded and flocked. The CRN_01 has a one-step production, easier and cheaper. Made from a single material, they can be easily recycled and thus represent the previously unavailable circular approach. In the spirit of biomimetics the form of the swab was inspired by the hummingbird's tongue.
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Poland
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As a representative of an organisation
Name of the organisation(s): Sygnis SA Type of organisation: For-profit company First name of representative: Maciej Last name of representative: Głowacki Age: 30 Please attach a copy of your national ID/residence card:
By ticking this box, I certify that the information regarding my age is factually correct. : Yes Gender: Male Nationality: Poland Function: Chief Design Officer Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Grunwaldzka 472 Town: Gdańsk Postal code: 80-309 Country: Poland Direct Tel:+48 606 916 939 E-mail:maciej.glowacki@sygnis.pl Website:https://www.behance.net/m_glowacki
The CRN_01 "Hummingbird" design is a response to the logistics crisis at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic and shortages in medical supplies. Knowledge about the development of Covid-19 pandemic depended on massively performed tests. Swabs were therefore a necessity item, and the simplification of their production – a real opportunity to support the health care sector in times of logistics crisis.
In the spirit of biomimetics, the form of the swab was inspired by the hummingbird's tongue, adjusted to collecting nectar from flowers. The mechanics of this process and a diagnostic swab are similar enough to adapt nature's perfect solution to human needs.
The swabs available on the market are produced in two stages: injection molded and then flocked. In order to obtain the right parameters of the smear, specific flocks are needed, and therefore also proper machines and production lines for their application. The CRN_01 project, on the other hand, has a one-step production process, faster and cheaper – just the molding. The design was optimised so that any company capable of injection molding can easily produce the swabs in times of need, without any additional equipment. This project could solve problems of availability of those diagnostic products and current dependence on centralised production not only for Covid, but for any other disease diagnosed by nasopharyngeal swabs, which are still common in developing countries.
As the CRN_01 swab has a one-step production process (only injection molding) and no additional flocks, it's made from single material. It means that it can be easily recycled and thus represents the circular economy approach, previously unavailable for those products.
All the swabs in use today are characterised by a complex production process with a minimum of two steps: the creation of the swab base and the addition of the absorbing element, flocks. Thus, they are multi-element and treated as a disposable product, representing non-recyclable waste after use. The CRN_01 project aims to transform those mass-produced disposable diagnostic products into a fully circular solution. By getting rid of the nylon or cotton flocking, the final product consists of a single material that can be sterilised and then converted into pellets, thereby closing the loop.
What’s more, currently in order to obtain the right parameters of the smear, specific flocks are needed, and therefore also proper machines and production lines for their application. The CRN_01 project significantly simplifies the said production process, while also facilitating its local implementation. The design thus carries an opportunity to change the current situation, in which a centralised production model prevails. Distributed production also means shortening of supply chains and greatly simplifying logistics associated with product’s distribution, minimising the overall environmental impact.
The CRN_01 "Hummingbird" swab project is a proposal aimed at proving that even the production of specialised diagnostic equipment, hitherto single-use and disposable, can be more environmentally friendly, keeping with the principles of circular economy.
The sanitary restrictions classifying currently produced, used swabs as contaminated waste, are understandable and surely justified. However, the CRN_01 "Hummingbird" project presents the possibility of introducing solutions that, with a change in procedures and via additional sterilisation, are capable of returning used plastic to recirculation and perhaps someday even full reuse for diagnostic testing. The existence of the CRN_01 solution on the market would have a considerable impact on the development and future of the industry.
Moreover, the project was inspired by nature - it adapts a perfectly designed evolutionary solution: the hummingbird's tongue - for human needs. In the spirit of biomimetics, the Hummingbird swabs promote a careful and curious approach to the environment. A turn to nature, as advocated for years by the ecological trend among the design community.
CRN_01 swabs introduce a revolution in the method of manufacturing of those diagnostic products. A single production step - injection molding - is all that is needed. As a result, instead of advanced production lines and unavoidably centralised production capabilities, only an injection mold and an injection molding machine are needed to produce CRN_01, even those at the lower size range of commercially available products (a four-cavity mold measures about 25 x 15 cm, with a weight of 70 kg). For sterilization, any available technology (ethylene oxide, UV, plasma, etc.) will work just fine: for lower volumes, even handheld devices and a cleanroom/glove box (as ones used during prototype stage). The low hardware requirements necessary for setting up the production line make it possible to implement production of the project anywhere in the world, without the need to organize an advanced production infrastructure. It therefore offers a serious social impact, providing access to specialised diagnostic equipment anywhere in the world, without the reliance on extensive supply chains. Such independence from international distribution networks can be crucial not only during pandemics like Covid-19, but for any other disease diagnosed by nasopharyngeal swabs, the incidence of which is still high in developing countries. The project also brings the possibility of stimulating local production without a need of heavy investments.
Knowledge about the development of Covid-19 pandemic depended on massively performed tests. Swabs were therefore a necessity item. In Poland lack of medical, diagnostic and protective equipment alongside many controversies surrounding their import or production, led to general scepticism towards any counter-pandemic measures undertaken by the government. Availability of those products surely wouldn’t solve all of the problems, however a more thoroughly tested and better informed society could act more responsibly in times of pandemic crisis that demanded solidarity.
Globally, the project offers a sense of independence by making the highly specialised production possible without reliance on foreign companies. Such empowerment could be valuable especially for developing countries and their societies, although even developed countries would surely benefit from solving the supply shortages with their own resources.
The project has been conceived by the team of Sygnis SA, a Polish deep-tech company. It has been consulted by medical professionals from the Warsaw Medical University, diagnostic company Voxel SA and material scientists from Wielkopolskie Centre of Advanced Technologies at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. The final design was a result of the expertise of our injection molding specialists, who helped achieve the extremely intricate mold that allows the swabs’ production.
CRN_01 “Hummingbird” swabs were developed as a design intervention, in response to the logistics crisis at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic and shortages in medical supplies, reported directly by the medics with whom I have contact in my professional work. The project wouldn't have been possible without the consultation and invaluable expertise of these specialists.
The whole project was coordinated by Sygnis SA, who consulted all the aforementioned specialists in the fields of medicine, medical diagnostics, material science and injection manufacturing while working on subsequent iterations of the prototypes.
First of all we had to understand every aspect of the manufacturing process of current swabs, then the sterilization procedures and the whole diagnostic lifecycle from the swab itself up to the lab that conducts the test.
From the first idea, through dozens of prototypes printed on precise resin 3D printers and sterilised manually with handheld plasma devices, to the implementation of the first injection molded series, approx. two months passed. Over a week was taken by the process of intricate electrical discharge machining of a four-cavity injection mold, after which the first production series was made.
Commercially available diagnostic swabs for nasal or nasopharyngeal swabs are characterised, in the vast majority, by min. two-step manufacturing processes: the core of the swab is injection molded and then subjected to a flocking process, i.e. covering the head of the swab with some material for collecting the sample.
The lowest quality ones are coated with cotton, Rayon, Dacron or PU foam. They are characterised either by low absorbency and little sample collection, or by high absorption of the sample while retaining it permanently in their volume. As a result, in either case, even despite the large amount of swab collected, a small percentage of it makes it to the final test, which can interfere with the unambiguity or reliability of the results. The best market solution is considered to be a swab flocked with specially developed, patent-protected nylon fibers. This solution combines both the collection of a large amount of swab material and a relatively high percentage of its return to the medium during the diagnostic tests performed for the presence of viral DNA. All the cited solutions are characterized by a complex manufacturing process with a min. of two steps. Thus, they are multi-piece and treated as a disposable product, constituting non-recyclable waste after use.
CRN_01 introduces a revolution in the swabs’ production method. A single production step is all that is needed to manufacture them. The solution therefore enables significantly faster and cheaper production than commercially available alternatives, while maintaining high efficiency: due to lack of flocks the swab “gives back” for testing over 95% of the collected sample. What's more, the low hardware requirements necessary to set up the production line make it possible to implement production of the project anywhere in the world, without the need to organise an advanced production infrastructure. And simplicity means recyclability as well, previously unavailable for those diagnostic products.
The whole concept, both the final swab and the simplified production process, was conceived with the sole aim of being replicated and transferred to as many places as possible, nation- and worldwide. One of the possible business models could be licence-based so that the technology’s recipient is a local manufacturer, launching production at low cost, under such licence and with proper technological guidance. Thus, the project carries an opportunity to change the current situation, in which a centralized production model prevails. As no advanced production line is necessary, the CRN_01 shows that some boundaries that keep the current centralization status-quo could be circumvented, for the product to become available for its final customer, regardless of their location and state of supply chains.
Although designed in response to Covid-19, the swab could offer the same effectiveness of testing for diseases with high prevalence worldwide, like: pertussis, diphtheria, influenza and various types of diseases caused by the coronavirus family, including SARS, MERS.
The concept of recyclability of specialised diagnostic equipment, like swabs used for testing, aims to prove that even such single-use and disposable items could be more environmentally friendly, keeping with the principles of circular economy. Perhaps someday the procedures would change and, with proper sterilization, even full reuse of advanced yet single-used diagnostic equipment could become possible. I believe that the existence of the CRN_01 solution on the market could show a new way of thinking about those products and have a considerable impact on the development and future of the industry.
Equipment shortages and the lack of availability of diagnostic swabs was one of the largest problems facing the global medical sector during the Covid-19 pandemic, prompting diagnosticians to use inferior technological solutions at the expense of the reliability of their results (cf. a publication arguing the need for lower quality cotton-covered swabs to combat resource shortages: Cotton-Tipped Plastic Swabs for SARS-CoV-2 RT-qPCR Diagnosis to Prevent Supply Shortages, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7324669/). The CRN_01 project could solve this problem, both for pandemics like Covid-19 and for any other disease diagnosed by nasopharyngeal swabs, the incidence of which is still high in developing countries without easy access to international distribution of specialised products.
The CRN_01 project aims to prove that even mass-produced disposable diagnostic products could be turned into a fully circular solution. By getting rid of the nylon or cotton flocking, the final product consists of a single material that can be sterilised and then converted into pellets, keeping with the principles of circular economy. As the design also significantly simplifies the production process, it facilitates local implementation and offers an opportunity to change the current situation, in which a centralised production model prevails. The design could easily be implemented anywhere in the world. Distributed production would mean shortened supply chains and greatly simplified logistics associated with product’s distribution, that minimises the overall environmental impact.
