Standard diagnostic tests for common bacterial infections such as strep throat are invasive and uncomfortable, especially for children. Difficulty performing these tests may delay or prevent diagnosis, which leads to more severe consequences, such as secondary conditions or organ damage. To address these barriers to care, we developed the CandyCollect, a novel saliva collection platform that is child-friendly, effective at pathogen collection, and suitable in at-home and clinical settings.The purpose of this study is to test the feasibility of our device’s bacteria capture for home use in healthy people. Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus mutans are common oral bacteria that are targeted in this study to assess our device’s ability to capture and detect bacteria. The findings in this study will inform our ability to use the CandyCollect for the bacterial pathogen responsible for strep throat, Streptococcus pyogenes, in future studies. We initally recruited 5 participants (>18 years) nationwide to test our CandyCollect device against oral swabs and spit tubes to compare the efficacy and user feedback of CandyCollect with traditional methods of saliva collection. The study is continuing with additional participants. qPCR analysis and fluorescent imaging were used to detect the target oral bacteria in collected samples. Responses from the user feedback survey indicated that the majority of the participants were satisfied with the design and were optimistic about implementing this device for children. Future applications include quantitative determination of bacteria concentration as well as targeting S. pyogenes. We aim to expand this human subjects study to recruit younger participants, especially children (> 3 years), which will help us achieve the ultimate goal of delivering a comfortable saliva collection platform to pediatric patients.

The rapid rise of bioanalytical testing has renewed discussions in improving the collection of bacteria through oral sampling. Current diagnostic tests for common respiratory illnesses such as strep throat are invasive and uncomfortable, especially for children. Undiagnosed, these treatable diseases can cause serious damage. The Theberge lab has created the CandyCollect, a saliva sampling device intended to be a child-friendly alternative to current sampling techniques for home and clinical settings. The CandyCollect utilizes candy in the design to appeal to children, a unique component that requires additional testing and standardization to be appropriately implemented. This study explores the intersectionality of safety, design, effectiveness, and ease of application by using candy to increase children's compliance and act as a built-in timer. Our goal is to modify the existing device with these objectives in mind. Several types of candy were made using different ingredients, flavors, and textures, and the interaction of these candies with oral bacteria and saliva was investigated. We engineered the device using rapid prototyping, computer-numerical-control (CNC) milling, and silicone mold development. These methods allow for the flexibility to modify the design of the candy and sampling device. We then designed a survey for a human subjects study for adults (>18 years) to receive useability feedback and adapt the device components. Our analysis of these results determines the variety of candy that is most suitable for large scale use. The findings of this study will offer an improved method for child diagnostics and encourage other industries to redesign traditional sampling procedures.