Development of a clockwork light source to enable cervical inspection by village health workers

Background  

Cervical cancer can often be prevented by screening and may be curable if identified and treated in its early stages. However, 80% of new cases occur in less-developed countries where cervical cancer screening programmes are small-scale or non-existent. This is a human tragedy of great proportion, with many of those affected being young mothers. There is some evidence that cancerous or precancerous lesions may be detected by visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) and field studies indicate that this technique is effective, safe and acceptable to women. However, the provision of a light source for inspection of the cervix presents a major problem in less-developed countries, where candles and torches often provide the only means of illumination. Our objective was to develop a light source based on clockwork technology, that required no batteries or external power source.