Puritan Medical Products Awarded Two Patents in Japan

Single-use specimen collection device manufacturer Puritan Medical Products Co. LLC has received two new Japanese patents for its high-performance flocked swabs.

The patents for the HydraFlock swab (No. 2012-522818) and PurFlock Ultra swab (No. 2012-522817) are the ninth and 10th international patents Puritan has been awarded. Puritan also has device and method patents in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia for its line of flocked swabs, and patents pending in China.

“As our devices and proprietary methods distinguish Puritan in the industry, we’re expanding into a greater number of international markets,” said Timothy Templet, Puritan’s executive vice president of Global Sales.

Puritan claims its HydraFlock and PurFlock Ultra products are the only swabs on the market with a 3-D microstructure design resulting from specially developed fibers and a proprietary flocking process. Multiple studies have shown HydraFlock and PurFlock Ultra swabs to have superior absorption capacity and more rapid specimen elution properties. The result is greater sample purity and consistency without the need for additional fiber treatments or multiple specimen collections.

HydraFlock flocked swabs, combined with Puritan’s liquid amies bacterial transport systems, are engineered to provide superior performance and versatility in the collection and transport of clinically significant bacteria.

PurFlock Ultra flocked swabs are used with Puritan’s UniTranz-RT universal transport medium systems for the collection, preservation, and transport of viruses, chlamydia, mycoplasma, and ureaplasma specimens at room temperature or long-term freezer storage. Both kits are compatible with standard and automated laboratory equipment.

Puritan Medical Products is the largest manufacturer of single-use medical and diagnostics products in North America, producing more than 35 types of specimen collection devices including its patented flocked swabs and media-filled transport systems. All research and development, product testing, approval and release take place at Puritan’s facility in Guilford, Maine, including custom media manufacturing and compounding capability.