The Impact of Contextual Factors on the Design of a Point of Care Cervical Cancer Screening Device
ongoing
This project focuses on increasing women’s participation in cervical cancer screenings through redesigning the C Spec, a product that lowers the patient discomfort barrier associated with cervical cancer screenings.
Cervical cancer is the development of abnormal cell growth on a woman’s cervix. Notably, 22.5% of cervical cancer related deaths occur in Africa but, they have the lowest rate of cervical cancer prevention measures worldwide.
The C Spec was developed by the startup company GIC Space. Its design utilizes a narrow body and an endoscopic camera to visualize the cervix via a live mobile phone feed, reducing the diameter needed to stretch the vaginal walls to view the cervix.
Although the original C Spec design improves patient comfort, healthcare professional ease of use was limited. This new C Spec design therefore utilizes a speculum style handle attached to the original C Spec main body to allow for intuitive use by healthcare professionals while maintaining patient comfort.
You can read the full thesis here.
