‘I’ve invented an alternative to uncomfortable smear tests’ – BBC News

When Sânziana Foia had her first Pap smear at the age of 25, she was surprised at how uncomfortable she found the whole experience.

The postgraduate student believed there should be other and better ways to test women for the signs of cervical cancer.

Sânziana said: “I had my first smear test about three years ago and it was a hugely unpleasant experience. When I spoke to other women, I realised that it is actually a shared unpleasant experience.

“Because I was already doing a PhD in bioengineering and developing biosensors, I thought maybe there was a way to do this that was non-invasive and allowed women to have control over themselves.

“This hasn’t been updated in decades, so it seemed like a good start.”

She got to work and the result is a new system called Papcup, a small device that allows women to test themselves at home using a sample of menstrual blood.

The device looks for signs of the cancer-causing HPV strains in the same way a traditional Pap smear would. But there’s no need to make a doctor’s appointment or wait for the results.

Sânziana told BBC Scotland News: “It’s a small device, about the size of my fist. You put a sample of menstrual blood into it which you collect with a cotton swab.

“The device contains a biosensor, the detection unit. It reads how much HPV is in the sample and provides a reading within about 15 minutes.

“This device is designed to perform a test almost immediately, because all other tests take days or weeks before the test results are known.”

The Papcup has passed the feasibility stage and a prototype is now being developed. Once that is ready, further refinement and clinical testing will follow.

Sânziana said: “We have developed the mechanical designs, the electronics and we have the proof of concept for the biocensors.

“Now it’s a matter of bringing everything together and being able to demonstrate this on the table, increasing the investment so that we can refine the biosensor, and further develop the clinical trials so that we can finally bring this as a product to women.”

Sânziana, originally from Romania, is doing her PhD at Imperial College London, where her idea was initially developed through the Advanced Hackspace mentoring scheme.

But now she has the support of a programme at the University of Edinburgh called the Venture Builder Incubator, which aims to take innovations from idea to reality.

Andrew Parfery is a Program Manager for VBI.

“We want to help researchers, PhD students and academic staff turn their ideas and innovations into businesses and bring them to market so they have real impact,” he said.

“We are here for people in the UK’s universities, particularly those innovating in health and social care. That’s why we are now open for applications, particularly those delivering technology-driven solutions.”

Uptake rates are lower in some areas, meaning many are missing the chance to detect cancer-causing strains of HPV. Early diagnosis could potentially save lives, according to Cancer Research Horizons, the for-profit arm of the charity.

Cidgem Selli is from CRH, which has been involved in the Sânziana project.

She said: ‘We know that one in two people will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives.

“If we can detect cancer earlier using new health technologies and inventions that move from the labs to the bedside, we will save many lives.”

The use of smear tests among younger women is also lower, but Sânziana hopes that her device will change this.

“Once they turn 25 and have had their first Pap smear, many of them postpone, delay or skip their next appointment altogether, or live in fear for months.

“But they can use the new test in their own private safe spaces – they don’t have to interact with a complete stranger in such a vulnerable position. It gives them back the power to test on their terms.”

Postmenopausal women and women who do not menstruate can still use the test.

She said: “They can still test with a Papcup using a traditional swab. It still has some advantages because you collect the swab yourself and the results are still instant, so you don’t have to send it off to a lab and wait anxiously for weeks for your results to come back.”

A routine Pap smear looks for cancer-causing HPV strains. If these are found, further investigation will follow.

The Papcup also searches for harmful HPV strains.

Sânziana said: “If someone gets a positive HPV test, they might want to get a full Pap smear to get a full diagnosis, where they look at it comprehensively to see what’s going on. But we want to break down that first barrier that women have to get a Pap smear.

“It’s really about addressing this gap in health care and the inequities that are causing women to skip their appointments. We hope to provide women with a much more comfortable screening experience.”