CandyCollect
Smart, patient-centric oral sample collection
for children and sensitive patients
Lollipop-inspired, at-home saliva collection and pathogen sampling device
The CandyCollect was designed to facilitate easy, non-invasive at-home sampling of saliva, particularly for children, which is then shipped to a lab for analysis and diagnosis.
The device sampling mimics the action of eating a lollipop, featuring a polystyrene stick with an open microfluidic channel for bacterial capture and candy that functions as an incentive to ensure a pleasant sampling experience (featured in ACS Newsroom).
Patient-preferred solution for oral sampling
Users find existing oral sampling devices create discomfort and generally create a bad sampling experience. CandyCollect provides an intuitive, great sampling experience that is the preferred method by most users and recommended by most caregivers (Tu*, Robertson*, et al. Bioeng. Transl. Med., 2025, e7001. Journal link. Free access medRxiv link).
Children’s ranking of pain and discomfort
Caregiver’s ranking of pain and discomfort
Caregiver’s preference in collection methods
Open microfluidic technology enables safe capture of pathogens
The CandyCollect uses open microfluidic channels on the face of the device that effectively allows saliva to flow through and capture pathogens at the surface of the plastic, while preventing abrasion from the tongue or mouth (Lee*, Su*, et al. Lab Chip, 2022, 22, 3555–3564. Journal link. Free access bioRxiv link).
Built-in timer for pathogen accumulation
The isomalt candy from the CandyCollect can be tailored to provide user feedback on sampling time. By changing the amount of candy on the sampler, users can be nudged to collect for longer or shorter periods of time, enabling higher accumulation of pathogens sampled (Lee*, Su*, et al. Lab Chip, 2022, 22, 3555–3564. Journal link. Free access bioRxiv link).
Contact us to learn more
CandyCollect is a technology in development. Contact Seabright for more information.