MicroWash, a nasal sample collection device invented at UNMC and developed through the university’s product commercialization process, now is available nationwide.
Omaha’s Silicon Prairie News recently highlighted the “UNMC innovation born from the COVID pandemic.”
MicroWash is a self-contained irrigation device that allows clinicians to collect samples easily and painlessly from a patient’s nasal cavity. The innovation spawned from the frustrations and marked discomfort of the traditional nasal swabs that gained notoriety during the COVD-19 pandemic.
The MicroWash device eliminates the need for a clinician to insert a swab into a patient’s nasal cavity. More importantly, it standardizes and simplifies the sample collection process.
It was invented by Thanh Nguyen, PhD, an assistant professor of emergency medicine, department chair Michael Wadman, MD, and Wesley Zeger, DO, professor in the department.
MicroWash was the cornerstone technology that built the startup University Medical Devices, which closed a $1.6 million seed round last year.
The article explained the route that the inventors took to develop their product:
The team worked with UNeMed and UNeTech and received federal grants designated to support COVID response efforts. Nguyen said additional resources came from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Nebraska Department of Economic Development.
The article also cited connections with Metro Community College, the Omaha Medical Technology Pipeline and UneTech Deploy! Initiatives, local manufacturers Major Plastics and RD Tool and Engineering, and medical supply distributor McKesson.
“To be able to take the CEO and be able to make those introductions from the jump, that’s essentially several years of work that they now have jumped over,” UneTech’s associate director, Joe Runge, JD, said in the article. “I think it’s because of the great relationships UMD built and the great work MicroWash did in these efforts.”