Development of PVA Electrospun Nanofibers for Fabrication of Bacteriological Swabs

SIMPLE SUMMARY: The enormous demand for swabs for clinical use that has characterised recent years, together with the need to develop effective, eco-friendly, and low-cost strategies for their production, has driven nanotechnological research to the development of new manufacturing processes. In this context, electrospinning represents a promising solution as it guarantees broad control in terms of fibre size and porosity and good scalability of the production process. In this study, this technique was chosen for the fabrication of biodegradable polymeric membranes to be used for the manufacture of swab tips. The electrospun mats thus obtained were characterised, and the prototype swab thus assembled was investigated in its uptake and release properties. Furthermore, the use of this prototype for the collection of bacteriological samples was preliminarily evaluated. The in vitro tests revealed a good potential, comparable to those of commercial foam swabs adopted as the reference standard and hopefully replaceable by the manufactured prototype. ABSTRACT: In recent years, the enormous demand for swabs for clinical use has promoted their relevance and, consequently, brought the environmental issues due to their single use and lack of biodegradability to the attention of the healthcare industry. Swabs consist of a stick that facilitates their easy handling and manoeuvrability even in complex districts and an absorbent tip designed to uptake and release biological samples. In this study, we focused on the fabrication of an innovative biodegradable poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) nanofiber swab tip using the electrospinning technique. The innovative swab tip obtained showed comparable uptake and release capacity of protein and bacterial species (Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus) with those of the commercial foam-type swab. In this way, the obtained swab can be attractive and suitable to fit into this panorama due to its low-cost process, easy scalability, and good uptake and release capabilities.