Diagnosing cervical cancer with a smartphone

It is a major cause of cancer mortality in women; every eight minutes, one woman dies of cervical cancer in India. According to the Indian Journal of Medical and Pediatric Oncology, cervical cancer is a public health problem in developing countries such as India. The country alone accounts for a "quarter of the worldwide burden of cervical cancers".

Doctors have long argued for early detection and screening to prevent deaths due to cervical cancer, a disease that is caused by "poor-to-moderate living standards, a high prevalence of HPV (more than 10 per cent in women aged more than 30 years) and a lack of screening".

Now, technology might be able to address at least one cause—a new device attached to your smartphone will help detect cervical cancers at an early stage. An Israeli firm has developed a low-cost imaging device that transforms a smartphone camera into a "colposcope" that allows healthcare workers to detect and treat cervical cancer without need for electricity or running water—or even a clinic.

The developers of the device insist that if this 'Mobile Colposcope' scan detects anomalies or abnormalities in the cervix, the patient can be referred for biopsy and timely treatment. The device is being introduced in India as a result of a partnership between Apollo Hospitals and the Israeli firm Mobile Optical Detection Technologies.

This low-cost diagnostic tool could be a game-changer in the detection and treatment of cervical cancer, especially for a developing country such as India, where a debate over the high cost of Human Papillomavirus vaccine to prevent cervical cancer has still not been settled. Public health experts argue that the incidence of cervical cancer has been decreasing and the vaccine is too expensive to be included in the country's national immunisation programme.

Other low cost measures to prevent cervical cancer include improved personal hygiene, running water in washrooms, and better nutrition.