Innovative paper-based dried saliva technology offers a sustainable low-cost approach for molecular diagnostics

During the early weeks of the Covid Pandemic SARS-2 COVID scientists, at Tufts University in the USA, collected saliva samples on FishburneTabs^®SC, a paper-based salivary collection device, and then froze and stored them for more than 3 years. Dr Charles Mace, Associate Professor of Chemistry at Tufts, “repurposed” the FishburneTabs as a saliva collection device, and conducted an elegant study to validate the use of the FishburneTabs as a platform for dried saliva and molecular analysis.

The key takeaways from this elegant work are as follows:

Novel Use of FishburneTabs^TM: The researchers repurposed FishburneTabs^TM to collect and store dried saliva samples for viral RNA detection.
Comparable Performance to Liquid Saliva: The dried saliva method achieved 92% accuracy compared to paired liquid saliva samples, with 85% sensitivity and 94% specificity in detecting SARS-CoV-2 RNA.
Standardised Collection Method: FishburneTabs^®SC provide a standardised approach to saliva collection, addressing key limitations of current saliva sampling techniques, including variability between patients and lack of standardised collection methods.
User-Friendly Approach: The collection process is quick (30 seconds), non-invasive, and user-friendly, enabling self-collection for decentralised testing.
Similar Processing to Dried Blood Spot (DBS): The workflow aligns with dried blood spot (DBS) cards: (i) patient collects saliva with a FishburneTabs^®SC, (ii) the tab dries, and (iii) standard hole punches were used for laboratory analysis.
Viable Alternative to Nasal Swabs: Saliva contains high viral titres during early infection but hasn’t been widely adopted for testing due to collection complexities. This method addresses those concerns.

FishburneTabs^®SC represent a breakthrough in sample collection methodology by combining the simplicity of paper-based collection with the clinical relevance of saliva for respiratory pathogen detection. The technology has the potential to dramatically simplifying the patient experience and laboratory workflows. Transform your molecular diagnostics assays with FishburneTabs^TM technology from Salvivo.

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¹Mora AC, Sogn AK, Tierney AJ, Tzavaras E, Singh ML, Mahn Arteaga G, et al. Validation of dried saliva for molecular diagnostics. ChemRxiv. 2025; doi:10.26434/chemrxiv-2025-66dj9. This content is a preprint and has not been peer-reviewed.