CERVICAL CANCER DETECTION AND SCREENING (PHASE I)

THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS RESEARCH IS TO DEVELOP NEW AND IMPROVED DIAGNOSTIC INSTRUMENTATION FOR CERVICAL CANCER DETECTION AND SCREENING. THE TECHNIQUES EMPLOYED ARE BASED UPON HIGH RESOLUTION DIGITAL IMAGING TECHNOLOGY. A FIVE YEAR STUDY JUST COMPLETED HAS CLARIFIED AND QUANTIFIED, FOR THE PURPOSES OF CYTOLOGY AUTOMATION, THE CONCEPTS EXPLOITED IN TRADITIONAL HUMAN CERVICAL CYTOLOGY SCREENING, I.E., (1) THE DETECTION REQUIREMENTS OF THE PAP SMEAR SCREENING "SYSTEM", (2) THE CELL DETECTION CAPABILITIES OF TRAINED CYTOTECHNOLOGISTS, AND (3) THE INTERRELATIONSHIP OF THESE FACTORS. IN ADDITION THESE STUDIES PROVED THAT STATE-OF- THE-ART IMAGE PROCESSING DETECTION OF SUSPICIOUS AND ABNORMAL CELLS IS AS GOOD AS, OR BETTER THAN, HIGHLY TRAINEDCYTOTECHNOLOGISTS. THE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PHASE I, ISTO FURTHER SPECIFIC ASPECTS OF THE COMPUTER SOFTWARE DESIGN AND TO DEVELOP THE CONCEPTUAL DESIGN OF A FEASIBLE DIAGNOSTIC INSTRUMENT. THE EXPECTED RESULTS FROM THE PHASE I STUDY WOULD BE COMPLETED SOFTWARE ALGORITHMS AND OTHER SYSTEM PARAMETERS ORIENTED TOWARDS A SPECIFIC DESIGN, WITH ALL OF THE INFORMATION NECESSARY TO PROPOSE A PROTOTYPE INSTRUMENT DEVELOPMENT IN PHASE II. THE POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATION OF THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IS IN THE AREA OF CLINICAL LABORATORY INSTRUMENTATION AND TESTING. THE PUBLIC HEALTH BENEFITS INCLUDE: (1) A POTENTIAL INCREASEIN ACCURACY AND REPRODUCIBILITY IN THE ROUTINE PERFORMANCE OF THE PAP TEST; (2) A POSSIBILITY OF STANDARDIZATION FROM ONE SCREENING LABORATORY TO ANOTHER; AND (3) THE POTENTIAL CAPABILITY OF A MORE READY AVAILABILITY OF THIS TEST TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC.