IP Requirement: Auburn IP
Experience Requirement:
– Mechanical Design
– Rapid Prototyping
Problem Description
The female pelvic exam is an essential component of primary care. It consists of two key parts: the Pap smear, which screens for cervical cancer, and the bimanual exam, which assesses for uterine and ovarian masses. Locating the cervix during a Pap smear can be challenging and poses a need for practice among aspiring healthcare providers. This project aims to create an accurate and realistic female pelvic model for healthcare providers to practice the female pelvic exam. This model would be most useful in the educational setting for a wide range of healthcare professionals.
There are currently many female pelvic models; however, they are not realistic and are very expensive. These models fail to mimic the female anatomy accurately, making pap smear practice less helpful. The problem with this current model is representing the vaginal canal as an open space rather than a potential space. In actuality, the vaginal canal is opened with a speculum to then visualize the cervix for the pap smear exam, which is what we would like to mimic in this new model. As the tool for pap smears is inserted and expanded, the vaginal walls should open, and when it’s removed from the vagina, the vaginal walls should close around it. As these walls open with the expansion of the speculum, the cervix will become visible rather than being immediately visible with the speculum’s insertion as they are in the current models. These current models range from $1500 to $4400, making them costly learning tools that are thus not readily available for practice. The costliness and inaccuracy of these models are what we aim to address in making a new model.
Ultimately, better training tools lead to increased confidence for real-life exams, greater skills for future healthcare providers, and thus overall improved reproductive health outcomes for patients. This promotes a more patient-centered approach, helping patients feel safer and more respected during such intimate procedures.
Procedure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=1pGbvTbwGJs
