Abstract: The invention provides articles, devices, and methods for sampling respiratory droplets, the article comprising a material capable of adsorbing or absorbing respiratory droplets such that the contents of said respiratory droplets can be recovered for analysis. The invention allows respiratory droplets to be collected directly from any source of moisture and commonly-used devices, for example face masks and air handling systems.

Abstract: The invention provides methods of screening for disease in a patient by performing a non-invasive or minimally invasive genetic assay on a sample from the patient to detect characteristics indicative of the presence of a disease in the sample at a predetermined time following the performance of a diagnostic procedure on a patient to detect characteristics indicative of the presence of a disease. Methods of this invention are useful in screening for cancer.