Specimen recovery is one of the few variables in swab-based diagnostics that laboratories can actually control. Wound-fibre swabs absorb material into a dense mat; elution recovers only a fraction of it.
Nylon flocking applies fibres perpendicular to the shaft, so the sample sits on the surface and releases into transport media. Published figures put flocked release rates above 90%, against roughly 25% for conventional fibre swabs.
In low-viral-load samples that difference decides whether a result is positive or invalid. It also reduces QNS rejections in DFA workflows.
