Lollipops have long been used as a medical tool to pacify or reward children after a medical procedure, they may now find further use in diagnostic testing for both adults and children.A new study has found that lollipops may be a new tool that can be used to collect saliva from adults and children. In a study published in the American Chemical Societys Analytical Chemistry journal, researchers have shown that a lollipop-based saliva collection system can capture bacteria from adults and remain shelf-stable for up to a year.Participants who took part in the study also preferred a tasty lollipop over traditional methods of collecting saliva.You may soon have saliva tests done with lollipops, find out how…The new research was an extension of a previously available device that could collect saliva with the help of candies. This lollipop collection device, called CandyCollect, was developed by researchers Sanitta Thongpang, Ashleigh Theberge, Erwin Berthier, and their colleagues.The saliva gathering business just got sweeter… Researchers at the University of Washington have shown that a lollipop-based collection system, CandyCollect, is more pleasant than traditional saliva sampling techniques. Read more: 10.1021/acs.analchem.3c00462#diagnostics pic.twitter.com/DGjfpuCrDe— TOKU-E Company (@TOKUE_Company) July 12, 2023The device looks like a normal lollipop except it has a spoon-like stick with a spiral-shaped groove carved into the top. This flattened top is covered with isomalt candy, which allowed saliva to flow into the groove as the lollipop is eaten.In the newly published research, it is shown that the saliva collected using the above method can detect common bacteria like Streptococcus mutans and Staphylococcus aureus, which the device detected 100% of the time.The participants in the study agreed that the new device was more sanitary and less disgusting, as well as less gag-inducing, than normal methods of saliva collection such as mouth swabs.
