JP5729929B2 - Sample collection swab having a shaft portion formed of a flexible material - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a swab (cotton swab) used for specimen collection.

  Swabs are widely used when performing sample collection work from human bodies, bacterial culture work, inspection work of various precision instruments, and the like (see Patent Document 1).

  In particular, in biological examinations, it is important to efficiently collect hair, tissues, body fluids, and the like necessary for the examination, and to remove minute solid impurities, and swabs are often used.

  When collecting a sample from the human body, for example, if the sample is a nasal wipe, insert the swab into the narrow nasal cavity and insert it into the lower turbinates until it reaches the back of the nasal cavity. Then, rub the mucosal epidermis several times to collect the specimen present in the back of the nasal cavity.

  At this time, since the shaft does not bend very much in the swab having a large shaft diameter, before the sample is collected, the swab shaft comes into contact with a part other than the part where the specimen is collected, for example, a part around the entrance of the nostril. In this case, the tip of the swab cannot reach the site to be collected, or the sample is forced to be collected, so it comes into contact with a site other than the site where the sample is collected, causing pain or damage to the contacted site. May end up.

  Therefore, when collecting a specimen in a narrow space, a swab having a small diameter dimension of the collection portion and the shaft is used so that it can be easily inserted.

JP 2009-58260

When collecting a sample with a swab, the sample collection part at the tip of the swab is pressed against or scraped against the sample collection site. At that time, the shaft part is pulled, compressed, bent, twisted, and cracked in the shaft part. Get up. As a result, the swab may be bent and twisted from the crack as a starting point, and may eventually be broken, leaving a swab broken at the specimen collection site. In particular, a swab having a small diameter at the shaft portion has a tendency that the strength surface tends to be weak because of its thinness, and the swab is easily broken due to bending or twisting. When the shaft portion of the swab is broken during sample collection in a narrow space, the broken portion of the shaft portion contacts the side wall of the narrow space, and the contacted portion is damaged. In addition, since the swab breaks contact the side wall of the narrow space, the tip of the swab cannot reach the site where the sample is to be collected, and as a result, the sample cannot be collected. In addition, since the force from the gripping part is difficult to be transmitted from the broken part to the tip part, the force is forced on the gripping part in order to collect the specimen, and the shaft part is broken from the broken part. It will damage the contacted part. In addition, when collecting a sample in a narrow space, the work location is often not visible, and the work is continued without noticing the swab's shaft breakage or breakage, increasing the damage. In addition, when a swab breaks in a narrow space, it is very difficult to collect the broken swab. When a narrow space is a human body, the effects of these damages on the human body are enormous.
The present invention aims to provide a swab free from the above-mentioned drawbacks.

  As described above, a swab having a small diameter dimension of the sampling part and the shaft part was used so that the sample can be easily inserted when collecting the sample in a narrow space. There was a problem. Therefore, there has been a demand for a swab that is resistant to breakage and breakage even when the diameter of the shaft portion is small.

  In order to solve such problems, the present inventor uses a material having excellent flexibility for the shaft portion, so that when the shaft portion of the swab is bent, the shaft portion is bent without breaking and does not break. I found.

That is, the present invention is as follows.
[1] When having a shaft portion formed of a flexible material, having a sampling portion at one end portion in the longitudinal direction of the shaft portion, and a gripping portion at one end portion in the opposite direction, and bending the shaft portion A swab characterized in that the shaft portion can be bent without breaking.
[2] The swab according to [1], wherein the flexible material is made of a crystalline resin.
[3] The swab according to [1] or [2], wherein the flexible material is an engineering plastic.
[4] The swab according to any one of [1] to [3], wherein the shaft has a diameter of 0.7 to 0.9 mm.
[5] The swab according to any one of [1] to [4], wherein the grip portion has a larger diameter than the shaft portion.
[6] The swab according to any one of [1] to [5], wherein the collection part is composed of a brush-like raised body.
[7] A method for analyzing an analyte in a sample, comprising the steps of collecting the sample using the swab according to any one of [1] to [6], and analyzing the analyte in the collected sample .
[8] The analysis method according to [7], wherein the specimen is collected from the pharynx, nasal cavity, middle ear, inner ear, cornea, urethra, anus, rectum, vagina or skin.
[9] The analysis method according to [7] or [8], wherein the specimen collected by the swab is suspended in the specimen suspension and the analyte is analyzed from the specimen suspension.

  The swab of the present invention has a shaft portion formed of a flexible material, has a sampling portion at one end portion in the longitudinal direction of the shaft portion, and a gripping portion at one end portion in the opposite direction. When bent, the shaft portion can be bent without being broken. For this reason, even if it forms as a swab with a small diameter size of a collection part and a shaft part so that it may be inserted easily when collecting a sample in a narrow space, it will not break. By using the swab of the present invention, a sample can be collected reliably, efficiently and safely.

It is a figure which shows the swab of this invention. In the figure, the collection unit 2 has a raised body fixed thereto, and the collection unit includes the raised body.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail.
The present invention has a shaft portion made of a flexible material, and has a sampling portion at one end portion in the longitudinal direction of the shaft portion and a gripping portion at one end portion in the opposite direction, and the shaft portion is bent. The swab is configured so that the shaft portion can be bent without breaking. Here, the flexibility means a property that is flexible and does not break even when bent. Further, the shaft portion preferably has elasticity. Here, elasticity refers to the property of deforming when a force is applied, but returning to its original shape when unloaded.

  When the shaft portion is bent, the shaft portion can be bent without breaking.For example, when the shaft portion is fixed and the shaft portion is bent by applying a force to the sampling portion which is one end of the shaft portion, It means that the part bends without breaking.

  Here, “fold” means a state in which the shaft portion is deformed to an extent that it can be confirmed that the shaft portion is bent at an angle by visual observation or touch and does not return to its original shape unless a force is applied. That is, “break” refers to a state of irreversibly deforming. Deformation to the extent that the shaft portion cannot be confirmed to be bent at an angle by visual observation or touch, for example, deformation to such a degree that a gentle curve curve remains, is not included in “fold”. When attempting to collect a specimen from a narrow space using a swab, if this deformation occurs, the broken part of the shaft will come into contact with the side wall of the narrow space, which is the specimen collection part, and the contacted part will be damaged. May be given. Further, when the sample collection site is a living body site, pain may be felt. Furthermore, when the swab breaks in contact with the side wall of the narrow space, the tip of the swab cannot reach the part where the specimen is to be collected, and as a result, the specimen cannot be collected.

  Further, when the shaft portion is broken, it is difficult for the force from the grip portion to be transmitted from the broken portion to the tip portion. Therefore, a force is applied to the gripping part to collect the specimen, and the shaft part is broken from the broken part, and the broken part damages the contacted living body part. In addition, when collecting a sample in a narrow space, the work site is often not visible, and the work is continued without noticing the swab shaft part being broken or broken, thereby increasing the damage caused by the damage. Further, when the swab breaks in a narrow space, it becomes very difficult to collect the broken swab.

  When a narrow space is a body cavity of a living body such as a human body, the influence on the living body due to these damages is enormous.

  Since the swab of the present invention has a shaft portion formed of a flexible material, the shaft portion is unlikely to be bent or broken by twisting. Therefore, there is no possibility of damaging the space from which the specimen is collected as described above.

  The shaft portion of the swab of the present invention is made of a flexible material, so that the shaft portion can be bent even if the shaft portion is bent so that the radius of curvature is 4 mm, preferably 3 mm, more preferably 2 mm or less. It can be bent without.

  The shape of the shaft portion is generally a rod shape (diameter section is substantially circular) or a tapered shape with a smaller diameter at the tip portion or a larger diameter at the tip portion, but is not limited thereto. The diameter of the shaft is preferably 0.5 to 3.0 mm or less, preferably 0.5 to 1.4 mm, more preferably 0.7 to 0.9 mm for the purpose of collecting a sample in a narrow nasal cavity. When the shape of the shaft portion is tapered, the diameter dimension represents the maximum diameter within a range of 40 mm from the sampling portion. The length of the shaft is about 30 to 200 mm.

  In the swab of the present invention, the shaft portion is made of a flexible material. A flexible material is a material that has a certain strength and toughness, can be bent, and does not break even when bent.

  A crystalline resin can be used as the flexible material. The crystalline resin is a resin having a regular molecular structure, and is excellent in fatigue resistance and mechanical strength. A swab made of crystalline resin has flexibility and mechanical strength, so when collecting a sample with a swab, it is easy to transmit force from the gripping part to the collecting part, and the sample is collected efficiently. can do. Specific examples of the crystalline resin include polyamide, polyacetal, polybutylene terephthalate, polyethylene terephthalate, polyphenylene sulfide, polyether ether ketone, polytetrafluoroethylene, and polyvinylidene fluoride, and derivatives and homopolymers thereof. The crystalline resin used as the material of the swab of the present invention does not include polyethylene and polypropylene. Moreover, resin which reinforced them with additives, such as glass fiber and carbon fiber, can also be used.

Furthermore, an engineer plastic (engineering plastic) can be used as the flexible material. The engineering plastic, a heat resistance 100 ° C. or higher, the strength is 49MPa (500kgf / cm ²⁾ or more, the flexural modulus is a general term for thermoplastic resins with 2.4GPa (24000kgf / cm ²⁾ or more characteristics, broadly Includes super engineer plastics that have higher heat resistance and can be used for long periods of time at temperatures above 150 ° C. When referring to engineer plastic, general-purpose plastics such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, and polyvinyl chloride whose main chain is made of only carbon are excluded. Engineer plastic is flexible due to its nature and mechanical strength, so when collecting a sample with a swab, it is easy to transmit force from the gripping part to the collecting part, and it is possible to collect the sample efficiently. it can. Engineer plastics specifically include polyamide, polyacetal, polybutylene terephthalate, polyethylene terephthalate, modified polyphenylene ether, ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene, polyvinylidene fluoride, polyphenylene sulfide, polyarate, polyamideimide, polyetherimide, polyetheretherketone, polysulfone , Polyethersulfone, pobenzimidazole, polytetrafluoroethylene, and the like, and derivatives thereof. Moreover, resin which reinforced them with additives, such as glass fiber and carbon fiber, can also be used.

  The swab of the present invention has a grip portion at one end. The grip portion refers to a portion to be gripped by a finger, and may be manufactured integrally with the shaft portion, or may be manufactured separately from the shaft portion and coupled. In the case of manufacturing separately, the shaft portion and the gripping portion may be joined by adhesion, welding, fitting, or the like. The shape of the grip portion is not limited, but has a certain area that comes into contact with the finger when gripping with a finger, such as a rod shape, a taper shape, a plate shape, and the like, and is easy to grip with the finger. The shaft portion of the swab of the present invention has a small diameter dimension, and the gripping area is small in that dimension, so that it is difficult to grip, and when collecting a specimen, it is difficult to transmit force from the gripping part to the sampling part. It is difficult to collect samples. Therefore, the diameter of the sampling part and the shaft part, which will be described later, may remain small, but it is desirable that the gripping part be sized to be easily gripped. On the other hand, force such as pulling, compression, bending, and twisting to the shaft part is applied more than necessary, and as a result, the shaft part tends to bend or break, but by forming with the flexible material of the present invention. In addition, it is possible to implement a swab that is easy to grip and that does not bend or break the shaft portion. For example, when the grip portion is a rod or a taper, the diameter may be larger than the shaft portion. In this case, the diameter of the grip portion is, for example, 1.5 times or more, preferably 2 times or more, and more preferably 3 times or more the diameter of the shaft portion. The length of the gripping part is about 1/4 to 1/2 of the entire length of the swab.

  The swab of the present invention further has a collection part for collecting a sample at one end opposite to the grip part. The swab collection part of the present invention can be attached with a structure for collecting a sample by absorption or the like, and a chip for attaching the structure may be formed. In this case, the tip is a part of the shaft portion including a portion having a diameter larger than that of the shaft portion existing at one end of the shaft portion, and a pseudospherical tip is attached to the tip of the shaft portion or the shaft portion is deformed to insert the tip portion May be formed. What is necessary is just to fix a brush-like napping body, a cotton ball, etc. to the collection part of a swab as a structure for extract | collecting a test substance. In the present invention, the swab collection part includes a structure in which a structure for collecting a sample is not fixed and a structure in which a structure for collecting a sample is fixed in a chip part. A brush-like napped body is an object in which the short fiber portion that constitutes the nap is present in a brush shape, and is configured by fixing the short fiber portion to a sampling portion that is configured at one end in the longitudinal direction of the shaft portion. In addition, the short fiber portion that constitutes the nap is present in a brush shape with respect to the collection part. As the short fiber portion, microfiber having a hollow portion, natural materials such as cotton, silk, and cellulose, plastic, carbon fiber, alginate, and the like can be used. Among these, microfibers having high absorption efficiency of liquid specimens are preferable, and microfibers made of resins such as nylon, rayon, polyester, polyamide, etc. are preferably used. The short fiber portion of the napped body is widely used because it can efficiently collect the specimen. On the other hand, since many specimens are collected, a force such as pulling, compression, bending, and twisting is applied to the shaft more than necessary, and as a result, the shaft is bent or broken. However, by combining with the shaft portion formed of the flexible material of the present invention, it is possible to efficiently collect a specimen and perform a swab in which the shaft portion does not bend or break. The length of the collection part is, for example, about 1/20 to 1/5 of the entire length of the swab.

  The swab of the present invention can be used for collecting a sample in an analysis method for analyzing an analyte in the collected sample, for example.

  Since the swab of the present invention has the above-described characteristics, it can exhibit excellent sample collection ability in a narrow space where sample collection is difficult or in a delicate place where it is not desired to be damaged. Therefore, by using the swab of the present invention, it is possible to collect a sample from a narrow space where it is difficult to collect the sample or a delicate place where it is not desired to damage the sample, and to analyze the analyte in the sample.

  The analysis method may be any analysis method such as physical, chemical, electrical, immunological and genetic analysis, and the sample can be efficiently collected using the swab of the present invention. Can be analyzed with high sensitivity and high accuracy.

  In addition, since the swab of the present invention has the above-described features, the pharynx, nasal cavity, middle ear, inner ear, eye, urethra, anus, rectum, vagina, skin, body cavity under an endoscope, etc. It can be suitably used for collecting a specimen in a living body. In particular, it can be suitably used for collecting a sample in a narrow space where it is difficult to collect a sample such as a nasal cavity, rectum, cornea, etc. Samples to be collected include pharyngeal or nasal wipes, pharyngeal or nasal wash, nasal aspirate, saliva, serum, rectal wipe, stool, stool suspension, urine, corneal wipe, and the like.

  The sample collected by the swab may be used for analysis as it is, but by putting the swab collection part in the sample suspension, sample suspension, sample solution, etc., the sample is made into the suspension, suspension, solution, etc. It may be suspended, suspended, dissolved, etc., and the analyte such as the suspended liquid, suspension, dissolved solution may be analyzed. In this case, the analysis can be performed more efficiently.

  The present invention includes a method for analyzing an analyte in a sample, which comprises collecting the sample with the swab of the present invention and analyzing the analyte in the collected sample.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described more specifically based on examples. However, the present invention is not limited to the following examples.

Example 1
The swab of the present invention is shown in FIG.
The swab 4 has a substantially circular cross section in the radial direction and has a total length of 150 mm. The swab 4 includes a shaft portion 1 having a length of 60 mm, and a sampling portion 2 having a length of 15 mm at one end portion in the longitudinal direction of the shaft portion. One end of each has a grip portion 3 of 75 mm.

  The shaft portion 1 has a diameter of 0.8 mm, but the grip portion 3 has a diameter of 2.5 mm, and the shaft portion and the sampling portion are formed to extend from the grip portion 3 in the axial direction (longitudinal direction). Has been. Since the diameter of the shaft portion 1 is as thin as 0.8 mm, the swab can be easily inserted into a narrow portion.

  Since the grip portion 3 is formed to have a larger diameter than the shaft portion, it is easy to transmit a force from the grip portion to the collection portion when the sample is collected, and as a result, the sample can be collected efficiently.

  The material of the shaft 1 is a flexible material made of polyamide, and the shaft 1 is formed by injection molding.

  Polyamide is a crystalline resin and engineer plastic, so it has excellent fatigue resistance and mechanical strength. As a result, when collecting a sample with a swab, it is easy to apply force from the gripping part to the collecting part, and not only can the sample be collected efficiently, but it is also difficult to bend or break.

  The collection part 2 has a length of about 15 mm from the tip of the shaft part, and many short fibers of about 0.3 mm are fixed with brush-like raised bodies, and the diameter of the collection part is about 2. It is formed with 8mm. Since the specimen can be efficiently collected from the short fiber part of the napped body, the specimen can be collected without excessive force even in a narrow space.

  In addition, there is little friction stress at the time of contact depending on the napped state, and it is not necessary to apply force as described above, so it is difficult to apply force such as tension, compression, bending, twisting to the shaft part, resulting in bending or breaking of the shaft part. Does not happen.

Example 2
When a sample is collected from a human body using the swab shown in FIG. 1, the sample is collected by bringing the collection unit 2 into contact with the sample by holding the grasping unit 3 with a finger and guiding the sample to the sample to be collected. .

  For example, in the case of collecting a sample existing in a deep part of the nasal cavity through a narrow nostril with an entrance, the grasping part 3 is grasped and inserted into the nostril from the tip of the shaft part 1 where the collecting part 2 is formed. To do.

  When the specimen to be collected as described above exists in the deep part where the entrance passes through the narrow nostril, such as the deep part of the nasal cavity, the shaft portion 1 has a diameter so that it can pass through the narrow space. Is required to be small.

  Further, since the grip portion 3 cannot be stably gripped when the diameter of the grip portion 3 is small, the diameter of the grip portion 3 can stably collect the sample in order to perform a stable sample collection operation. It needs to be formed according to the diameter.

  In order to collect the sample in the back part of the nasal cavity using the inserted swab, the sampling part 2 is further inserted in the back part of the nasal cavity. At this time, since the nostril of the entrance is narrow, the shaft portion 1 may come into contact with the peripheral portion of the nostril entrance in the process of guiding the collection unit 2 to the specimen. Even in such a case, since the diameter of the shaft portion 1 is formed as thin as 0.8 mm and flexible polyamide is used as the material, the shaft portion 1 is formed around the nostril entrance. Since the shaft portion 1 can be naturally bent along the internal shape of the nostril even if it contacts, the pain and damage of the contacted portion can be reduced and the sample can be collected.

  Then, the sample located in the deep part of the nasal cavity is collected by the collecting unit 2 guided to the sample collecting part. At this time, since the collection unit 2 is formed in a brush-like napped body, it is possible to easily collect the specimen without strongly rubbing against the specimen collection site in the back of the nasal cavity. Moreover, even if rubbed, there is little frictional stress at the time of contact depending on the raised state, and pain and damage at the contacted part can be reduced. Further, since the tip portion does not have to be rubbed strongly, it is difficult to apply a force such as pulling, compression, bending, and twisting to the shaft portion, and as a result, the shaft portion is not bent or broken.

  When collecting a sample that exists in the deep part of the nasal cavity through the nostril, it may be difficult to visually inspect the state of the sample collection, and inadvertently put in force. The swab of the present invention can collect a sample without applying force, and can reduce pain and damage even if force is applied. Further, since it is difficult to break even when force is applied, it is possible to prevent a broken swab from remaining in a narrow space that is difficult to visually observe.

Example 3
A sample was collected from the human body using the swab shown in FIG. 1, and the target analyte was analyzed from the sample.

1. Analysis of influenza from nasal wiping fluid The nasal wiping fluid was collected using the swab of Fig. 1 and the presence or absence of influenza virus was analyzed from the collected samples.
For analysis of influenza virus, a commercially available “Quick Navy Flu” (Denka Seken) was used.

  The swab of FIG. 1 was slowly inserted into the nostril of an influenza-infected patient, and the collection part was brought into contact with the sample collection site at the back of the nasal cavity. Further, the swab was moved a little back and forth or rotated to scrape the collection part to the sample collection site. The swab was slowly extracted from the nostril, and the swab collection part was suspended in the sample suspension according to the operation method of “Quick Navy Flu” and analyzed. When the sample was collected, the swab was not bent or broken, and the sample could be collected safely.

  As a result of analyzing the collected sample, it was determined that the influenza virus was positive, and the swab of the present invention could be used without difficulty for collecting a sample of the nasal wipe.

2. Detection of Norovirus from Rectal Wipe The rectal wipe was collected using the swab shown in FIG. 1, and the presence or absence of norovirus was analyzed from the collected specimen.
For the analysis of norovirus, a commercially available “Quick Navi Noro” (Denka Seken) was used.

  The swab of FIG. 1 was slowly inserted into the anus of a patient with norovirus infection, and the collection part was brought into contact with the sample collection site of the rectum. Further, the swab was moved a little back and forth or rotated to scrape the collection part to the sample collection site. The swab was slowly extracted from the anus, and the swab collection part was suspended in the sample suspension according to the operation method of “Quick Navi Noro” and analyzed. During the sample collection, the swab was not bent or broken, and the sample could be collected safely.

  As a result of the analysis, it was determined that Norovirus was positive, and the swab of the present invention could be used without difficulty for collecting samples of rectal wipes.

3. Detection of adenovirus from corneal wiping solution The corneal wiping solution was collected using the swab shown in FIG. 1, and the presence or absence of adenovirus was analyzed from the collected samples.
For the analysis of adenovirus, a commercially available “Quick Navy Adeno” (DENKA SEIKEN) was used.

  The swab collection part of FIG. 1 was brought into contact with the cornea of the eyeball of an adenovirus-infected patient. Further, the sampling part was rubbed against the cornea by moving the swab back and forth slightly or rotating it. The swab sampling part was suspended in the sample suspension according to the operation method of “Quick Navy Adeno” and analyzed. During sample collection, the sample could be collected safely without damaging the cornea of an adenovirus-infected patient.

  As a result of the analysis, adenovirus was determined to be positive, and the swab of the present invention could be used without difficulty for collecting a sample of the corneal wipe.

  The swab of the present invention can be used for collecting specimens for detecting viruses, bacteria, and the like in biological specimens and antibodies to be detected. Also, it can be widely applied to cotton swab shafts.

1 Shaft part 2 Sampling part 3 Gripping part 4 Swab

Claims (7)

It has a shaft part with a diameter of 0.7 to 0.9 mm formed of engineering plastic, which is a flexible material , and has a sampling part at one end in the longitudinal direction of the shaft part and a gripping part at one end in the opposite direction. The pharynx, the nasal cavity, the middle ear, the inner ear, the cornea, characterized in that the shaft portion can be bent without bending even if the shaft portion is bent so that the radius of curvature is 4 mm or less . A swab used to collect specimens from the urethra, anus, rectum, vagina or skin . The swab according to claim 1 , wherein the flexible material is made of polyamide . The swab according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the grip portion has a larger diameter than the shaft portion. The swab according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the collection part is composed of a brush-like raised body. A method for analyzing an analyte in a sample, comprising the steps of collecting a sample using the swab according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , and analyzing the analyte in the collected sample. The analysis method according to claim 5, wherein the collecting specimen pharynx, nasal cavity, middle ear, inner ear, cornea, urinary, anal, rectal, vaginal or skin. The analysis method according to claim 5 or 6 , wherein a specimen collected by a swab is suspended in a specimen suspension and the analyte is analyzed from the specimen suspension.

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