Home Cervical Smear Test
Innovate UK
Lbn Innovations Ltd
99.7% of cervical cancer is caused by Human Papillomavirus (HPV). Pre-malignant changes to the uterine cervix can take approximately 10 years following HPV infection to develop. This means that if the pre-cancerous mutations are caught early, then cervical cancer may be prevented.    In 1988, the NHS Cervical Screening Programme was established and is estimated to have saved up to 5000 lives a year since its inception. Despite its proven track record, approximately 1 in 4 women in the UK fail to be screened. 2 women a day die, on average, with approximately 850 deaths a year. The greater percentage of these deaths according to Cancer Research UK is from non-white minority ethnic groups. The World Health Organization estimated in 2018 that 570000 women worldwide were diagnosed with cervical cancer, with approximately 311000 dying unnecessarily from this disease.    Research outlines the barriers women face undergoing a cervical smear test. These include embarrassment, fear of pain and anxiety. Factors that can contribute towards pain are small anatomical size, a retroverted uterus, vaginismus, nulliparous, menopause (vaginal atrophy), female genital mutilation (FGM) and prior sexual assault.    "I have experienced pain when having a pap smear done. The reason I had such terrible pain was the wrong speculum size (the one that was used was for a woman who had had several children). I've never had children. I was shamed and embarrassed by the experience...It was almost like I was to blame for the pain and discomfort."    Despite these barriers being identified, the methodology for performing this test has not changed for the last 143 years; not since 1878, when Thomas Graves revised Edward Gabriel Cusco's speculum to include two curved metal blades.    "My doctor dismissed my pain and having been through sexual assault, pap smears were never just uncomfortable, they were mentally traumatic."    LBN Innovations Ltd is listening to women and developing a new, compact medical device to replace the speculum. By developing a new smear test methodology, we hope to encourage more participation in screening programmes and so save lives.
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