FDA approves at-home pap smear alternative device for cervical cancer screening

The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new device called the Teal Wand, which its creator describes as an "at-home vaginal sample self-collection device for cervical cancer screening." It could be especially useful for women who find pap smears uncomfortable, painful and even traumatic, as well as for those who may not have time to go to a doctor or have disabilities preventing them from traveling to consult one. Users who get the Teal Wand will have to swab their vagina with the sponge tool at its tip. They then have to send the swab in to test it for HPV, or human papillomavirus, which causes most cervical cancers. Since the user isn't scraping cells from their cervix like what's done with a speculum during pap smears, there are no samples to analyze for abnormality under a microscope. But as The New York Times noted, some authorities are now recommending HPV testing as the primary screening for cervical cancer. Last year, the National Cancer Institute launched a clinical t ... Read full article.