INDUSTRY: Diagnostics HSD EXPERTISE: Mechanical Engineering, Prototyping, Human Factors Engineering & Manufacturing

CLIENT: SteriPack Group

XpressCollect™ offers an easier, faster, and more accurate way to collect and process COVID-19 samples. XpressCollect™ is an integrated swab and tube sample collection device that is a third of the size of the traditional nasopharyngeal swab used for COVID-19 PCR testing.

We partnered with a major philanthropic organization to develop a truly novel sample collection device. We teamed with leading healthcare providers, test laboratories, and SteriPack’s manufacturing team to develop and commercialize XpressCollect™ in record time. With our integrated Design & Development through Manufacturing methodology, and amidst the pandemic-driven global shortage of testing supplies, we accomplished this in under 6 months, Concept to Manufacturing.

No More Brain Tickling!

XpressCollect’s advantage is the integration of the swab and sample collection tube. This design makes it easier for patients and testing sites to collect samples and helps laboratories process more samples per day, meaning faster results. Through iterations and user studies, we developed a product that is smaller and more comfortable to use, allows patients to collect their own sample, shortens the steps and supplies for laboratory testing, and eliminates many supply chain issues.

Value to Market

XpressCollect™ eliminates shortages the pandemic exposed in sample collection and testing. The unique design integrates a testing swab within a dry swab transporter, eliminating refrigerated shipping and storage requirements. The swab is a third of the size of the traditional swab for COVID-19 PCR testing and you can collect your own sample, meaning more comfortable testing. It integrates into laboratory automation systems, so labs require fewer full-time employees and can process samples up to 96 at a time instead of one by one with traditional samples. The flow-through cap and other design features reduce processing steps, supplies, and waste, saving laboratories $6-8/test. The US Department of Defense awarded SteriPack $14.7 million to increase XpressCollect™ production in the US and we’re working with a major philanthropic organization to increase global testing access.

The Future of XpressCollect™

In the short term, using XpressCollect™ at a mass testing site enables more testing. In the long term, XpressCollect™ will help expand laboratory testing capacity, increase testing access with self-collection (versus traveling to a clinic to have a healthcare worker collect the sample), reduce laboratory costs, and prevent future supply chain disruptions. The environmental impact of XpressCollect™ is less raw materials in the manufacturing process, less energy use in shipping since sample refrigeration is not necessary, and less laboratory waste due to fewer processing steps. XpressCollect will soon expand to other testing applications, including women’s health, tuberculosis, and influenza.