Designing a Smart Speculum for Low Resource Settings
The Impact of Contextual Factors on the Design of a Point of Care Cervical Cancer Screening Device
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Abstract
Cervical Cancer (CC) is a preventable disease and is easily treated when detected early. Yet it is the second most prevalent cancer related death in Cameroon, causing an estimated 1787 deaths each year (Woks et al, 2023). Cameroon has implemented no national strategy to prevent this disease and so screening practices that are in place are sporadic and scattered, causing a low national screening coverage of 6%, indicating a gap in the current healthcare landscape.
Apart from the issues regarding obtaining screening coverage, the screening method that is most commonly used in Cameroon due to the resource limited nature of the setting, is Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid (VIA). However, this method has significant limitations regarding accuracy and poses a barrier for women to undergo them due to its dependence on the use of a speculum. These limitations decrease the effectiveness of the screenings efforts that are made only further. Therefore the need for a comfortable, speculumless Point of Care (POC) CC screening device, which offers an increased accuracy, yet retains the accessibility that is associated with VIA, is identified.
In order to create such a device and contribute to an increased CC screening coverage in Cameroon, this thesis identifies and explores these gaps and in response creates Use Case Scenarios that both propose a solution for the current gap in the healthcare system and demonstrates the future context of use of this new device.
Additionally it seeks to adjust, complement, and tailor the set of Design Criteria established by the WHO for Point of Care (POC) Diagnostic tests, called ASSURED, to suit the requirements of a POC cervical cancer screening device (WHO, 2006; WHO, 2023) in order to guide the development of a new POC CC screening device that addresses the need of the end users in a local healthcare context.
Lastly it combines both these elements into a design tool that helps designers to understand how relevant contextual factors may impact the design of a CC screening device in different contexts of use. By making this an interactive experience, it tries to share complex contextual insights by making them comprehensive, yet retaining their complexity and minimizing the loss of depth during knowledge transfer.