Coronavirus Tests: Somerville Company Mass Producing Nasal Swabs Using 3D Printers
SOMERVILLE (CBS) -- Another Massachusetts company is using its 3D printers to help combat the coronavirus. Somerville-based Formlabs has started mass producing nasal swabs for testing the virus.
Supply chain issues have made traditional cotton swabs harder to come by. So Formlabs and two hospitals developed a 3D-printed version.
The nasal swabs are medical devices and manufacturers are required to register and list with the FDA. Formlabs has FDA registered facilities where we will be printing them, and the hospitals we are working with will be printing on-site for their own needs. https://t.co/YXOFdGrTGe pic.twitter.com/phmryab5hn
— Formlabs (@formlabs) March 27, 2020
"We're ramping up production at a facility we have in Ohio which is actually already rated to produce medical devices," CEO Maxim Lobvsky said. "We've delivered thousands and hoping to start delivering hundreds of thousands in the near future."
Formlabs said testing shows that their swabs work just as well as traditional swabs.