Abstract
Cervical cancer remains a major public health concern in developing countries due to financial and human resource constraints. Visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) of the cervix was widely promoted and routinely used as a low-cost primary screening test in low- and middle-income countries. It can be performed by a variety of health workers and the result is immediate. VIA provides a transient whitening effect which appears and disappears differently in precancerous and cancerous lesions, as compared to benign conditions. Colposcopes are often used during VIA to magnify the view of the cervix and allow clinicians to visually assess it. However, this assessment is generally subjective and unreliable even for experienced clinicians. Computer-aided techniques may improve the accuracy of VIA diagnosis and be an important determinant in the promotion of cervical cancer screening. This work proposes a smartphone-based solution that automatically detects cervical precancer from the dynamic features extracted from videos taken during VIA. The proposed solution achieves a sensitivity and specificity of 0.9 and 0.87 respectively, and could be a solution for screening in countries that suffer from the lack of expensive tools such as colposcopes and well-trained clinicians.
Highlights
In 2020, cervical cancer, a largely avoidable disease, affected approximately 600,000 women worldwide and resulted in more than 340,000 deaths [1]
The World Health Organization (WHO) emphasized the importance of acting immediately to combat cervical cancer through a triple intervention strategy that should be reached by the year 2030, including (i) 90% of girls fully vaccinated by 15 years of age, (ii) 70% of women screened with a highperformance test twice in their lifetime, and (iii) 90% of women identified with cervical disease receive treatment and care
Cervical cancer is caused by persistent high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and develops through precursor precancerous lesions named cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 (CIN2) and grade 3 (CIN3)
Summary
In 2020, cervical cancer, a largely avoidable disease, affected approximately 600,000 women worldwide and resulted in more than 340,000 deaths [1]. The World Health Organization (WHO) emphasized the importance of acting immediately to combat cervical cancer through a triple intervention strategy that should be reached by the year 2030, including (i) 90% of girls fully vaccinated by 15 years of age, (ii) 70% of women screened with a highperformance test twice in their lifetime, and (iii) 90% of women identified with cervical disease receive treatment and care. Cervical cancer is caused by persistent high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and develops through precursor precancerous lesions named cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 (CIN2) and grade 3 (CIN3). As far as it concerns screening, WHO recommended, for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), HPV testing as a primary screening test [2]. Tools for a reliable noninvasive detection and characterization of neoplastic lesions based on quantitative diagnostic algorithms are desirable to assist front-line providers when performing VIA, especially in low-resource settings
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
