Introduction Of Medical Cotton Swabs
Medical swabs, are generally available in specific shapes and sizes depending on their use. The most common swab is the pharyngeal swab, which is currently used for the COVID-19 test. Pharyngeal swabs and nasal swabs are also used as swabs for the extraction and sampling of body fluids from the human mouth and nasal cavity. There are, of course, many different types depending on the material and method of manufacture, of which flocked swabs (Picture 1), unsaturated resin swabs (Picture 2), and cotton swabs (Picture 3) are currently the three most used types.
flocked swabs
unsaturated resin swabs
cotton swabs
Each of the three types has its own advantages and disadvantages, and this section will be expanded upon later. In this article, we will focus on the medical swab section to give a brief introduction.
First of all, the requirements of medical swabs, medical swabs are generally in direct contact with the patient's wound, if there are bacteria or other microorganisms left on the swab will cause unpredictable harm to the patient. Therefore, swabs in direct contact with the patient's wound should be sterilized in three ways: 1) ethylene oxide sterilization; 2) cobalt radiation sterilization, and 3) high-frequency radiation sterilization.
There are also high requirements for materials: 1. For cotton, skimmed cotton should be used, the fibers should be soft, white, and odorless, and there should be no yellow spots, stains, or foreign bodies. During use, the cotton must not fall off. Here there is a stress requirement, the cotton needs to be tight inside and loose outside after forming, and it needs to be able to withstand 100g of tension on the cotton head without falling off. The most common type of cotton that meets these requirements is long-staple cotton, which is available in large quantities in China and India, the two best purchasing countries in Asia. 2, Rods: The surface should be smooth and burr-free, with no stains or foreign bodies. Of course, in order to improve the production efficiency of the machine, we would also recommend the use of near-round better rods.3, Glue: glue of food grade or above is required, here we recommend polyvinyl alcohol.