Fabrication of autoclavable bacteriologic loops for handling Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from recycled materials in a resource poor setting

Abstract

Summary

In resource limited settings, the appropriation of scarce resources during research efforts can be daunting. Sourcing for disposable plastic bacteriological loops for manipulating M. tuberculosis had been eating into the research budget. In an attempt to reduce cost, an alternative and more cost effective way of obtaining autoclavable bacteriologic inoculation loops from used materials in the laboratory was employed. Autoclave resistant loops were prepared from polypropylene automatic pipette tips and platinum wires from electric stoves. The loop volume, when desired, was calculated using a simple mathematical equation after several passes in weighted water. Laboratories in resource poor settings could also save on inoculating loops by adopting such pragmatic approaches using recycled materials.