method and device for collecting species of the mycobacterium complex from a patient's oral cavity

摘要

The present invention relates to a method and device for collecting a species of the mycobacterium complex, such as mycobacterium tuberculosis (mtb), from oral cavities, particularly children and infants. A device is provided which has a distal end and an operative terminal portion made from a precursor polymer that has been functionalized with a chemical compound that has an affinity for species of the mycobacterium complex to collect them, so that the presence of the same in the sample can be detected. The invention further extends to a method of preparing biological material obtained from such a collected sample.