Please Remain Calm While the Covid Testing Robot Swabs Your Nose

C'mon, what could go wrong? JL

James Vincent reports in The Verge:

If we can get over our first impressions of a robot wielding a cotton swab, says the company, it may benefit us all. Doctors were a bit more skeptical about its chances in the real world.The robot then retrieves a cotton swab from it base and, with torturous slowness, approaches the victim patient. It inserts the swab, twirls it, then withdraws, placing the sample in a sterile tube for transportation and analysis."We’ve heard the feedback and are figuring out how to reduce this terrifying feeling.”

If you’ve been tested for COVID-19 then you’ve probably experienced the unpleasantness of a nasal swab. Someone takes a long-handled cotton swab and sticks it up your nose — way up your nose — until it reaches the back of the mucus-cave that is your nasal cavity. Upon arrival they give the swab a good twirl to collect your secretions and beat a merciful retreat. I can say from personal experience that it’s a uniquely unpleasant sensation. It’s something that just feels wrong, like the opposite of scratching an itch.

That’s perhaps why I was so unsettled by the sight of this autonomous nasal swab robot developed by Taiwanese medtech startup Brain Navi. Of all the entities I don’t want sticking cotton swabs up my nose, an industrial robot arm is pretty high on the list, right between an excitable toddler and a trained mountain gorilla. A nasal swab requires trust.

WOULD YOU TRUST A ROBOT TO STICK A SWAB UP YOUR NOSE?

Nevertheless, the bot exists, and Brain Navi’s case for it is more compelling than you might think. As mass-testing ramps up globally, the company argues that automating testing could reduce infections and free up medical staff to tackle more pressing work. If we can get over our first impressions of a robot wielding a cotton swab, says the company, it may benefit us all. Doctors The Verge spoke to about the machine, though, were a bit more skeptical about its chances in the real world.

First, though, let’s talk about how it all works. To begin the procedure, a patient dons a nasal clip that the machine uses to orientate itself. They then place their head in a metal bracket similar to those used for eye examinations (gripping the handle bars like you’re riding the world’s worst rollercoaster is apparently optional). A depth-sensing camera then scans their face and measures the distance from nostril to ear canal, which Brain Navi says is a reliable proxy for the depth of the nasal cavity, and helps the robot navigate safely inside you.

The robot then retrieves a cotton swab from it base and, with torturous slowness, approaches the victim patient. It inserts the swab, twirls it, then withdraws, placing the sample in a sterile tube for transportation and analysis. You can watch it all happen below:

Let’s be clear: this does not look like fun! This looks mildly terrifying! There’s something about the slowness and inevitability of the robot’s movements that feels like an implicit threat, and the whole operation has the vibe of an alien lobotomy.

“WE’VE HEARD THE FEEDBACK AND ARE FIGURING OUT HOW TO REDUCE THIS TERRIFYING FEELING.”

Brain Navi is well aware of how it all looks. “Our founder Jerry [Chen Chieh-Hsiao] was the first one to have a nasal swab from the robot and he was terrified,” a spokesperson for the company, Zoe Lee, told The Verge. But she, says, it’s all a matter of familiarity. “I think people will be frightened because it’s a new thing but that’s normal. We’ve heard the feedback and are figuring out how to reduce this terrifying feeling.”