COLUMBUS, Ohio — Limited testing has been a widespread issue across the state of Ohio during the COVID-19 and scientists at The Ohio State University Wexler Medical Center have been working tirelessly to solve it. With approval from the Food and Drug Administration, the scientists will be able to expand and accelerate the testing.
A team of researchers at The Ohio State worked rapidly and created a sterile solution to transport testing swaps, called viral transport media (VTW), which stabilizes the virus, the university said.
The university said it has developed enough VTM for 30,000 test kits so far.
In addition to the development of the VTM, The Ohio State Wexner Medical Center has also worked alongside the university’s colleges of engineering and dentistry to 3D print more than 50,000 swabs for COVID-19 test kits, helping to provide more testing for Ohioans, according to the university.
Last month Ohio State Wexner Medical Center and Battelle, an applied science and technology development company headquartered in Columbus, announced a jointly developed new rapid test for COVID-19. The new test has a “substantially faster turnaround time on test results and increased processing volume, which will help flatten the curve,” the university said.
The Ohio State University is currently involved with nearly 90 COVID-19 research projects, according to the university.
“We’re fortunate to have the scientists and the resources at Ohio State’s seven health sciences colleges and across campus to create these vital materials and to be able to serve other hospital systems in Ohio and around the country that need them,” said Dr. Hal Paz, executive vice president and chancellor for Health Affairs at The Ohio State University and CEO of the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center. “This is what Buckeyes do. We collaborate to solve society’s biggest problems. We’re all in this together.”
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