Evaluation of Applied Force During Nasopharyngeal Swab Sampling Using Handheld Sensorized Instrument

Area of Science:

• Medical instrumentation
• Robotics in healthcare
• Diagnostic procedures

Background:

• Nasopharyngeal swabs are essential for COVID-19 detection but pose infection risks to healthcare workers.
• Automation is a potential solution, but quantitative force data for safe control is lacking.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantitatively measure applied forces during standard nasopharyngeal swab sampling.
• To develop and validate a sensorized instrument for precise force measurement in this procedure.

Main Methods:

• A handheld sensorized instrument was developed to measure multi-axis forces and 6-DOF hand motion.
• Online gravity bias compensation and IMU-based orientation estimation ensured accurate force measurement (<5 mN error).
• Simulated tests on a phantom model evaluated force variations during sampling sequences.

Main Results:

• The sensorized instrument accurately measured three-axis forces with an error below 5 mN.
• The system allowed natural hand motion, mimicking standard swab sampling.
• Simulated tests demonstrated the instrument's capability to capture force variations.

Conclusions:

• This study provides crucial quantitative force data for nasopharyngeal swab sampling.
• The developed sensorized instrument is a viable tool for safe and effective automation of COVID-19 testing.
• Findings can inform the design of robotic systems to minimize healthcare worker exposure.