Post-pandemic learnings have fueled a new era of nasal sampling that’s designed to keep patients more comfortable, clinicians more consistent and labs more efficient. A leader in this movement, Michael C. Wadman, MD, FACEP recently sat down with Patient Safety & Quality Healthcare to share his insider perspective on its podcast.

Drawing on his own early-pandemic experiences with symptomatic passengers returning to the U.S. from China on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, Dr. Wadman said he almost immediately noted several obstacles stemming from the nasal swab — the default collection method at the time due to availability and unprecedented demand.

“Overcoming a patient’s airway reflexes while also trying to capture a high-quality sample, keep healthcare personnel safe and maintain consistency was a challenge,” he said. “But it was these setbacks that served as the foundation for developing our evolved nasal lavage solution.”

Evolved nasal lavage devices like MicroWash, Dr. Wadman explained, greatly reduce involuntary reactions and variability in technique to yield a sample with up to 49% greater sensitivity than the swab. This method also directly addresses concerns surrounding false negatives, exposure risk and patient willingness, supporting more timely and accurate diagnoses.

So, what’s ahead? These benefits, plus superior stockpiling capabilities, make the case for MicroWash to replace swabs in rapid outbreak response. Dr. Wadman envisions the device having an impact beyond healthcare facilities, enabling decentralized testing models to boost testing volumes and keep individuals out of the hospital in the first place. Simplicity and comfort will drive these initiatives.

Dr. Wadman, MD, FACEP, is a veteran emergency physician with 30+ years of clinical experience who holds tenured professor and endowed chair positions at University of Nebraska Medical Center and is the Medical Director of the National Quarantine Unit, the only federally supported unit in the U.S. His emergency medicine and infectious disease experience drive medical excellence in device development for University Medical Devices.

Listen to the podcast.