Rapid Diagnostics
Developing a Next Gen COVID Test
Challenge
During the height of the pandemic the Abbott rapid diagnostic team came to IDEO to help them image what the next generation of LFT (Lateral Flow Tests) for COVID and other diseases could look like.
We conducted dozens of interviews with test administrators and everyday people in the United States, Germany, Kenya, Brazil, and South Africa and tested countless product architectures.
Outcome
After several rounds of concepting, prototyping, and testing we landed on two leading product architectures.
The first was a pen form factor (above) that combined the swab with the testing cassette and automated the mixing and dispensing of the sample. Combining the swab and the test strip reduced the risk of samples getting mixed up and patients getting inaccurate results.
The second was a more traditional cassette form factor that combined the buffer tube and the test strip and also automated the dispensing of the sample.
We began the project by visiting COVID testing sites across California speaking with doctors, nurses, and administrators to learn about testing kits and work flows and how things were actually implemented out in the world.
Based on our conversations and observations we began to develop sacrificial concepts for test devices that we could take back out into the field and get feedback on. These GIFs show the evolution of the integrated pen style swab+cassette based on user feedback and engineering feasibility.
These renders show the final pen concept. This product architecture physically connected the sample collection portion(swab) with the testing portion (cassette). Doing so prevents samples and results from getting mixed up, streamlines the workflow for in clinic testing, and reduces testing errors by automating sample mixing and dispensing.
This GIF demonstrated the work flow for the automated sample elusion and dispensing. As the vial containing the buffer solution is screwed onto the handle of the LFT(lateral flow test) the sample is automatically mixed with the buffer and dispensed onto the LFT.
The device can also be fitted with a capillary tube for collecting blood samples. The length of the capillary tube controls the volume of the blood sample and attaching the buffer vial automatically dispenses the sample and the necessary amount of buffer onto the LFT.
This was the final pull tab concept. The cassette and buffer tube are combined into a single device in order to reduce errors and streamline the testing workflow. Once the sample is mixed in the buffer well at one end of the device, the user simply pulls the foil tab which dispenses the correct amount of the mixture onto the LFT.
In the GIF you can see the sample begin to travel down the LFT strip inside the device after the pull tab is activated. Combining all of these components greatly reduces sample mix ups, which we observed to be disconcertingly common during our research.
