UK Student Invents HPV Self-Test Kit; Goodbye Uncomfortable Pap Smears

Sânziana Foia, a Romania-native post-graduate student at Imperial College London has invented a pain-free device which enables women to test themselves for cervical cancer at home, pain-free, using a sample of menstrual blood. It all started when she went to get her first pap smear at the age of 25 when she was surprised by how uncomfortable the experience was. A bio-engineering PhD candidate, she researched methods to introduce a non-invasive test that allows women to take control of their own health.

Why And How She Did It

Foia spoke to many women to understand their experience with pap smears, a method of cervical screening used to detect human papillomavirus that can potentially be cancerous. "Talking to other women I realised it's actually quite a shared unpleasant experience," she reflected in an interview with BBC.

She also found that the discomfort was hindering women from getting regularly tested. "Once they turn 25 and they've had their first smear tests, a lot of them are delaying their next appointments, postponing or skipping altogether, or they live with anxiety for months leading up to it," Foia noted.

She said, "Since I was already doing a PhD in bio-engineering and I was developing bio-sensors, I thought maybe there is a way to do this that's non-invasive and that women can have control over themselves. This hasn't been innovated in decades so it seemed like a good place to start."

The STEM student then invented the Papcup, a non-invasive device, the size of an average woman's fist, to allow women to take the test using their menstrual blood. Without the need for a doctor's appointment, it looks for signs of the HPV strains, in the same way a traditional smear test would. 

"In the device is a bio-sensor which is the detection unit. That reads how much HPV there is in the sample and comes up with a read-out in about 15 minutes. This device aims to provide a virtually instant test because everything else takes days or weeks to come back as a result," Foia told BBC.

Foia spoke about what makes her Papcup better than a regular Pap smear test, yet equally effective. "(Women) can use the new test in their own private safe spaces - they don't need to interact with a complete stranger in such a vulnerable position. It gives them back the power to test on their terms."

The Papcup kit has passed the feasibility test and a prototype is now being developed. Foia described, "Now it's a matter of bringing it all together, demonstrating this, and raising investment so we can refine the bio-sensor, and down the line clinical trials so we can finally bring this to women."

Foia's idea was initially developed through the Advanced Hackspace mentoring system at the Imperial College London. She also receives support from a programme at the University of Edinburgh called the Venture Builder Incubator, which helps students and researchers turn their ideas into a business.

"If someone gets a positive HPV test, they can go and get the full smear test for a full diagnosis, where they look in depth at what's going on," Foia said. "But we aim to break through that first barrier that women have towards getting their smear test. We hope to offer a much more comfortable screening experience."