A better test for cervical cancer

CSIRO research has contributed to the development of a cervical cancer detector with the potential to save lives and replace the PAP smear.

The TruScan cervical cancer detection system is being developed by Australian company, Polartechnics Ltd, and offers instant results and greater accuracy than PAP smears.

The device uses a pen-like probe to collect information directly from the cervix about the colour and electrical properties of cervical tissue. A computer, which is attached to the probe, analyses the data and classifies the tissue as healthy, pre-cancerous or cancerous.

CSIRO made a major contribution to the system by developing advanced mathematical algorithms to do the analysis of the spectral and electrical data.

Each year 300 women in Australia and hundreds of thousands of women around the world die from cervical cancer. Early detection is the key to prevention.

Instead of taking scrapings from the cervix the device collects spectroscopic (colour) and electrical impedance information from cervical tissue (impedance is a measure of the total opposition to the flow of an electrical current and includes resistance and capacitance).

This information is analysed using CSIRO-developed mathematical algorithms to accurately classify the tissue.

Through the clinical testing of TruScan it has been shown that it is at least 20 per cent more accurate than the PAP smear.

Item provided courtesy of CSIRO