Cervical Imaging in the Low Resource Setting: A Review

Abstract

Cervical cancer is one of the most significant global health inequities of our time and is the fourth most common cancer in women worldwide, disproportionally affecting developing countries where the disease burden is 84%. Sometimes referred to as preventable cancer, it progresses slowly, providing a window of time for routine screening in which pre-cancerous lesions can be identified and treated. The high mortality rate can be attributed to many reasons, including the high cost of cytology-based screening, lack of human resources to conduct screening, and inadequate preventive medicine services and systems. Due to its slow progression, early intervention is feasible with appropriate screening. However, the standard screening procedures require access to lab-based tests and physician expertise. Several imaging devices have been introduced in the literature to aid cervical screening in low-resource settings. This review details the instrumentation and clinical testing of devices currently deployed in low-resource locations worldwide. The devices’ imaging, portability, illumination, and power requirements (among other metrics) are documented with specifics of human pilot studies conducted with these tools.