ANATOMICALLY DESIGNED AND COLLAPSIBLE INTRAVAGINAL DEVICE FOR SELF-SAMPLING AND CONTAINMENT OF CERVICAL EPITHELIAL CELLS

摘要

A device is described that allows women to collect and preserve cervical cell samples to be later tested in a clinical analysis laboratory. It includes a cylindrical body, housing a shaft that axially pushes and retracts a cell collector. The penetration necessary for the insertion device is self-induced by the woman, and therefore has morphological characteristics that are adaptable to the anatomical shape of the vagina. The shaft slides inside the device to position the cell collector on the surface of the cervix. Once the sample is taken, the shaft is retracted, and the cell collector collapses as a consequence of the sliding inside the device, and positioning itself inside the handle, which may contain a liquid medium for cellular containment.