Two engineers at Delft University, Netherlands are reimagining the decades-old speculum design used for women’s gynaecological exams to make it less painful and intimidating for patients
The vaginal speculum used around the world every day for women is essential for gynaecological exams but it’s often deemed painful, cold and hard for patients.
Two engineers at Delft University, the Netherlands, are now redesigning the decades-old design of the speculum to make it less intimidating and less painful.
The Cusco speculum, the most used model, is a metal instrument with a handle, beak and screw to adjust how wide it opens inside the vagina. The dark history of the speculum, which was developed by a US doctor 180 years ago and tested on enslaved women, encouraged Tamara Hoveling, a researcher of the project, to redesign the instrument.
Hoveling and Ariadna Izcara Gual worked together on this project, with Gual noting that when she was drawing sketches of the tool with a similar shape, people were “people were still scared of the device.”
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Hoveling told AFP that she “tried to look for shapes that might be related to the reproductive organs, like for example the flower, that also opens.”
The prototype was called the Lilium, named after the lily flower. A soft plastic speculum with an applicator, no noise and a three-sided opening allowing for more visibility during exams and ensuring the vaginal walls didn’t collapse.
Funding for the project came from a crowdfunding campaign launched by the engineers and within two days raised 100,000 euros surpassing expectations. “It’s proof there are people who really want change, that there is a real problem here and that the current market solutions are not the best,” Hoveling said.
She added that she revealed a slew of emails from women who revealed that they “don’t go to the gynaecologist because of this device, because they’re scared, because they have a traumatic experience.”
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The project will need further ergonomic testing and material research to refine the prototype. The researchers have to secure safety certifications, human trials must be run and regulatory approval obtained before being able to reach clinics.
Online, women rejoiced at the news, with one writing on Instagram: “Designed by a woman who suffer with the design of a speculum made by a man.”
Another wrote: “For the first time in [their] life a gynaecologist used a “plastic” (I guess) speculum. Never seen it before. Transparent and with smooth surfaces. Much better,” while a third simply put: “Thank you.”
According to the World Health Organisation, cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer amongst women and it can be detected via a smear test or HPV screening, both conducted using a speculum.
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