Short of shopping for a bikini after the holidays, getting a Pap smear has to be one of the most dreaded parts of a woman’s life.
Now, a new device — which was recently approved by the FDA — promises to be the first at-home cervical cancer screening.
And, according to Teal Health co-founder and CEO Kara Egan, the Teal Wand will revolutionize the way women approach pelvic exams.
“Generally, no one enjoys going to the OB-GYN for a routine Pap smear,” Egan told The Post.
“Between the uncomfortable stirrups, the paper gown and the cold, metal speculum, it’s usually an unpleasant experience many women avoid,” the mother of two said.
“In fact, 1 in 4 women aren’t regularly screened due to access issues or discomfort with traditional exams. With this in mind, we set out to change the experience entirely, and offer a comfortable at-home option to test for cervical cancer,” she explained.
Egan also noted that Pap smears aren’t even “the recommended way of screening” anymore, with modern medicine preferring the HPV test “because of its sensitivity and accuracy.”
The Teal Wand looks a bit like a tampon applicator, with a soft sponge tip that collects cervical cells for HPV testing.
To use it, women request a kit online, get approved by a Teal Health provider and receive the device in the mail.
After a quick self-collection at home — Egan said 92% of users finished in under five minutes — the sample is sealed and sent to a clinical lab for analysis.
Results are then reviewed by certified doctors, and users can connect with Teal’s virtual care team to discuss any next steps.
Each year in the US, about 11,500 new cases of cervical cancer are diagnosed and about 4,000 women die from it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Cervical cancer is one of the most preventable cancers — if it’s caught early through regular screening.
But so many women put off or skip their Paps altogether, dreading their recommended annual gynecological exam — and the at-times-painful scraping of the cervix when collecting the sample.
“Pain and discomfort with the in-office speculum exam are some of the top reasons women are behind on their screening,” Egan said. “Other reasons include anything from living in OB-GYN care deserts, to medical anxiety or sexual trauma, to not having enough time to prioritize their health over their family priorities.”
With the Teal Wand, Egan is hoping to put the power back into women’s hands — literally.
“That’s why we created the Teal Wand — to give women the option to screen comfortably from home at their convenience,” she said.
The wand is single-use, and Egan noted that it “will be covered by insurance, with out-of-pocket and HSA/FSA payment options to ensure it is affordable and accessible for all women.”
And when it comes to effectiveness, the numbers are solid, according to Egan.
She said a “clinical trial … found that Teal Wand’s clinical sensitivity is 96%, matching the performance of clinician-collected samples. Self-collected samples had an agreement of 95% with clinician-collected samples, surpassing the threshold for equivalency.”
Women seem to get the hang of it quickly, as well — 99% reported no difficulty using the device and 98% of samples were valid for lab analysis.
The new device was just approved by the FDA on Friday. Their decision was based on a study of more than 600 women, which found that their at-home samples performed as well as ones collected by doctors.
While the price of the new wand hasn’t been disclosed, the company said it is working with insurance providers for coverage and flexible payment options.
They expect to begin selling the test to people between ages 25 and 65 in June.
