First At-Home Cervical Cancer Screening Test OK’d in U.S. Free

The FDA has approved the first at-home cervical cancer screening tool, offering an alternative to an in-office Pap test, a move that could prompt more women to check for the disease or its precursors. Unlike the traditional Pap test, during which a health care provider inserts a speculum into the vagina and scrapes away cervical cells for testing, Teal Health’s test involves using a sponge-tipped wand to swab the vagina; afterward, patients mail their sample to a lab for analysis. Tests allowing self-collection were approved last year, but they must be used in doctors’ offices. The Teal Wand could help patients who find a traditional Pap test upsetting or painful—as well as those who have trouble finding a nearby physician, traveling to a medical office, or making time for an appointment.