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Thinking Differently, Mayo Clinic Laboratories Finds A New Supply Chain
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From developing tests to detect the virus in a matter of months to testing patients for antibodies, Mayo Clinic Laboratories has been at the forefront of COVID-19 research by releasing more than a dozen COVID-19-related tests and analyzing more than 3 million COVID-19 tests for patients nationwide.
But Mayo Clinic experts stayed on the forefront of innovation to respond to the pandemic. When demand for testing swabs exploded last spring and supplies became scarce, Mayo Clinic Laboratories faced a serious problem. Without swabs, testing grinds to a halt and detecting the virus becomes extremely difficult.
What sounded like a straightforward assignment — find more swabs — became a massive effort that involved numerous departments and experts, and culminated with Mayo Clinic, for the first time, designing, testing and mass-manufacturing a new medical device listed with the Food and Drug Administration — the 3D-printed mid-turbinate swab.
That achievement reinforced a critical link in the supply chain, allowing Mayo Clinic to press forward with confidence.
Read more about how Mayo Clinic Laboratories' ingenuity, collaboration and expertise created a COVID-19 test swab.
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Ann Arneson describes her journey to Mayo Clinic as “divine design.” Ann — a retired teacher, a leader in her church and ministry, mother, grandmother, and line dance enthusiast — is Mayo Clinic’s first bone marrow transplant patient to recover at home thanks to the new advanced care at home program.
Darcy Reed's Mayo Clinic journey started 25 years ago, and she remembers well the first time she walked through the door as a student at Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine.
Shannon T.N. Coombs has faced her share of adversity well before this year. So, managing — and thriving as a medical student — through a global pandemic is just another step toward her ultimate goal.