Researchers and graduate students at the University of Alabama at Birmingham are developing a new at-home cervical cancer screening device aimed at increasing access to screening and improving early detection, particularly in under-screened communities.
Jason Warram, Ph.D., professor in the UAB Heersink Marnix E. School of Medicine Department of Otolaryngology, engineered the device alongside his graduate student Abbigael Eli and a team of UAB Biomedical Engineering undergraduate students as part of a senior capstone project.
The UAB BME Capstone project is a team of undergrad honors students who worked with the lead researcher and graduate students to develop a prototype working device. The student team was led by Jane Hancock, Jade Bustos and Brock Horton. The technology is now being further developed in a UAB research lab.
“This was an interdepartmental collaboration with the Department of Biomedical Engineering Capstone Project to develop an early screening device,” Warram said. “These efforts highlight the benefit of multidisciplinary approaches in research here at UAB.”
When development began, at-home options for cervical cancer screening were not available. While limited self-sampling options have since emerged, the UAB device is designed to be a low-cost alternative that uses a novel screening approach distinct from existing methods.
“This device does not rely on a cervical swab or scrape, which is often the source of discomfort during existing screening methods,” Eli said. “Rather than mechanically collecting cells, the device is worn for a period of time to interact with malignant cells and generate a detectable signal.”
Unlike traditional cervical cancer screening methods, such as Pap smears or HPV testing, the UAB device does not require collecting cells from the cervix. Instead, it uses a custom-designed applicator to place a cap on the cervix. A novel agent interacts with malignant cells, if present, producing a reporter molecule over time. After use, the cap would be mailed to a testing facility, where the reporter is measured to determine the risk of cervical pre-cancer. This approach could help remove barriers related to time, cost, distance and clinic access.
By allowing users to complete screening in the privacy of their homes and on their own schedules, the device may increase participation among individuals who are not up-to-date with recommended screening guidelines.
“While the device is still under development and not available for patient use, our goal is to provide an additional tool for populations where access to care is limited,” Eli said. “Ultimately, we hope this technology will help increase cervical cancer screening participation in under-screened and hard-to-reach communities.”
The team expects to publish their initial findings from Eli’s thesis work on the novel reporter agent within the next few months, allowing for further development of the device and test system through the next few years. This project is supported by an NIH NCI R21 grant.
Although the work is not published, the UAB Harbert Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship has filed a patent application.