New device called AV Magnivisualizer will assist initial screening; can operate on battery in remote areas
The
device, named AV Magnivisualizer, will cost Rs. 10,000 and is equipped
to work on a 12-volt portable rechargeable battery, requiring no
electricity, making it suitable for nearly any remote setting. (Photo:
ICMR)
The government will soon begin rolling out a new equipment to check
for cervical cancer that could help people in remote areas where absence
of pathology labs makes early detection of this life-threatening
illness nearly impossible.
The device, named AV Magnivisualizer, will cost Rs. 10,000 and is
equipped to work on a 12-volt portable rechargeable battery, requiring
no electricity, making it suitable for nearly any remote setting.
“This will make testing cervical cancer as easy as testing for
tonsillitis," Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said while
launching the equipment.
According to cancer registry data at the Indian Council of Medical
Research, every year India gets nearly 1.32 lakh cases of cervical
cancer and nearly 74,000 women die of the disease.
Azad said this data is conservative because only 16 states participate
in the cancer registry and it captures only registered cases.
“The actual number of cases will be much more. Rural India has a high
burden of cervical cancer. This device will help in screening in remote
areas,” he added.
The new testing device will be made available within nine months and
will be provided first at government centres. "The effort will be to
roll it out first at community health centres. In the next phase we will
make it available at primary health centres," Azad said.
Scientists at the Institute of Cytology and Preventive Oncology of
the Indian Council of Medical Research have developed the equipment. It
can be used for initial screening in remote areas where pathology
laboratories and pathologists are not available to determine cervical
cancer.
The AV Magnivisualizer is a magnifying device that visualizes the
cervix and assists a doctor or a health worker in examination. If the
test shows suspected cancer, acetic acid can be applied on the cervix
and if the area turns white it indicates a high probability of cervical
cancer. Such patients would then be referred for cytology, a standard
test to confirm cervical cancer.
“A V Magnivisualizer is for screening, not diagnosing. It is the
first step. By using this, only suspected cases will have to go to
district hospitals and medical colleges,” said lead scientist Aditya
Parashari, who worked on developing the equipment.
The standard tests so far for detecting cervical cancer are cervical
cytology, also called Pap test, or a human papillomavirus (HPV) test, or
a combination of both. The machines that perform these tests cost up to
Rs eight lakhs and can work only in a pathology lab.
V M Katoch, Director, Indian Council of Medical Research, said — “We
filed a patent for the equipment in 2010. Over the last two years we
have used it in five centres across the country — one centre each in
Kolkata, Jaipur and Tripura, and two in Delhi. Accuracy of the AV
Magnivisualizer was found to be 95 per cent."
He added in all the centres except Kolkata the device was used by
doctors. “In Kolkata, nurses, auxiliary nurses and midwives used the
device. Their accuracy was also the same,” he said. Katoch added health
workers require up to three days of training before they can start using
the device.
The Indian Council of Medial Research is negotiating with private
companies to start manufacturing the equipment. The device can also be
used for testing oral cavity. However, the accuracy for the same is yet
to be checked.
