title: Disposable collection kit for rapid and reliable collection of saliva.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe and evaluate disposable saliva collection kit for rapid, reliable, and reproducible collection of saliva samples.
  
  
  METHODS
  The saliva collection kit comprised of a saliva absorbent swab and an extractor unit was used to retrieve whole saliva samples from 10 subjects. The accuracy and precision of the extracted volumes (3, 10, and 30 μl) were compared to similar volumes drawn from control samples obtained by passive drool. Additionally, the impact of kit collection method on subsequent immunoassay results was verified by assessing salivary cortisol levels in the samples and comparing them to controls.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The recovered volumes for the whole saliva samples were 3.85 ± 0.28, 10.79 ± 0.95, and 31.18 ± 1.72 μl, respectively (CV = 8.76%) and 2.91 ± 0.19, 9.75 ± 0.43, and 29.64 ± 0.91 μl, respectively, (CV = 6.36%) for the controls. There was a close correspondence between the salivary cortisol levels from the saliva samples obtained by the collection kit and the controls (R(2)  > 0.96).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The disposable saliva collection kit allows accurate and repeatable collection of fixed amounts of whole saliva and does not interfere with subsequent measurements of salivary cortisol. The simple collection process, lack of elaborate specimen recovery steps, and the short turnaround time (<3 min) should render the kit attractive to test subjects and researchers alike.
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Engineering & Robotics Laboratory, Graduate School of Engineering, Iwate University, 4-3-5 Ueda, Morioka, 020-8551, Japan.
authors.forename: Masaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Engineering & Robotics Laboratory, Graduate School of Engineering, Iwate University, 4-3-5 Ueda, Morioka, 020-8551, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tezuka
authors.affiliation: Graduate Course of Disability Science, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, 305-8577, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazunori
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takeda
authors.affiliation: Section of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, UCLA School of Dentistry, University of California, 10833 Le Conte Avenue, Los Angeles, California, 90095-1668.
authors.forename: Vivek
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Shetty
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000378:metabolism*; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry*; D013048:Specimen Handling / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D006854:Hydrocortisone