TissueDB/Simulators/Cervical Cancer Screening Simulator

The Cervical Cancer Screening Simulator is a low-cost trainer built from locally available household and craft materials for practising visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA), a cervical cancer screening procedure. Medical Makers developed it for the STARS – Cervical Cancer Screening and Treatment module.^[1] Nurses, midwives, and clinical and medical officers use interchangeable nulliparous and parous cervix models to practise recognising VIA-positive acetowhite lesions.

Step 1. Cut a cardboard base measuring 19.0 cm × 16.5 cm.

Cut two central slots, each 5.0 cm long, spaced 4.5 cm apart. Position them 6.0 cm in from each side and 3.0 cm from the bottom edge. These receive the support pillars.

Step 2. Cut a cardboard angled plane measuring 13.0 cm × 16.5 cm.

Cut a 0.5 cm wide horizontal slit centrally, 5.5 cm from the bottom edge. This receives the tongue-depressor piece used for cervix mounting.

Step 3. Cut two right-triangle cardboard supports measuring 9.0 cm × 9.0 cm.

Cut a 1.5 cm wide horizontal slot in each triangle, 1.5 cm from the side and 2.0 cm from the bottom, for tongue-depressor reinforcement.

Step 4. Cut two cardboard rectangles measuring 13.0 cm × 3.0 cm to form the support pillars.

Cut the top of each pillar at an angle.

In each pillar, cut two vertical slots 1.5 cm wide:

• lower slot: 2.5 cm from the bottom;
• upper slot: 7.5 cm from the bottom.

Step 5. Prepare four tongue depressors as structural components:

• cut one tongue depressor in half;
• cut a second tongue depressor in half and trim one of those halves to a 0.5 cm piece;
• keep the remaining two tongue depressors whole.

Step 6. Tape the triangular supports to the base.

Attach the angled plane to the base and triangular supports.

Insert one whole tongue depressor through the slot in each triangular support and tape the two together in the middle to reinforce the structure.

Step 7. Insert one support pillar into each base slot.

Insert one half tongue depressor horizontally through the lower slots of the two pillars and the other half through their upper slots.

Insert the 0.5 cm tongue-depressor piece into the central slit of the angled plane beneath the two taped tongue depressors behind the plane. This piece supports the cervix model.

Confirm that the assembled support structure is stable.

Step 1. Mark a 13.0 cm × 14.0 cm rectangle on paper. These dimensions were selected with reference to published vaginal and cervical dimensions.^[2][3]

Extend a diagonal line to the paper edge so the completed cylinder can be formed to approximately 4.5 cm diameter.

Mark a 3.0 cm strip along the top edge that will remain unlined by foil. This end will sit next to the cervix model.

Cut out the resulting five-sided paper piece.

Step 2. Cut aluminium foil to cover the specified paper area, extending the foil approximately 1.0 cm beyond the paper edge for folding.

Step 3. Apply tape to the paper area that will receive the foil and press the aluminium foil onto it.

Do not cover the conductive foil surface with tape. Tape over the foil electrically insulates it and prevents the augmented-feedback circuit from operating.

Step 4. Fold the 1.0 cm foil overhang around the paper edge.

Roll the paper into a cylinder approximately 4.5 cm in diameter, corresponding to about 14.0 cm circumference, with the foil facing inward.

Step 5. Tape the outside of the cylinder closed.

Leave a section of folded aluminium foil exposed and untaped for connection of the augmented-feedback alligator clip.

Check that the cylinder diameter is approximately 4.5 cm.

Step 1. Use pink water-based soft clay, such as the source-described Play-Doh-type material.

Roll it into a cylinder approximately 2.5 cm in diameter and 3.0 cm long, corresponding to the source-supported nulliparous cervix dimensions.

Step 2. Cover the tip of a pencil with cellophane before it contacts the clay. The cellophane is a temporary fabrication barrier and does not represent anatomy.

Press the covered pencil tip into the centre of the model to form the smooth rounded external os characteristic of the nulliparous cervix.^[4]

Step 3. Apply red water-based clay to the cervix face to represent the columnar epithelium and create a distinct squamocolumnar junction near the external os.

Step 4. Apply white water-based clay adjacent to the squamocolumnar junction to reproduce a VIA-positive acetowhite lesion in the transformation zone.^[5]

Step 5. Mount the cervix model on the angled plane using the prepared tongue-depressor support.

Place the vaginal canal over the cervix with its non-foil end adjacent to the cervix and the foil-lined end supported between the pillars.

For augmented-feedback use, connect the red alligator clip to the exposed aluminium foil.

Step 1. Roll pink water-based soft clay into a cylinder approximately 3.0 cm in diameter and 3.0 cm long, corresponding to the source-supported primiparous/parous cervix dimensions.

Step 2. Cover the pencil tip with cellophane and use it to form the wider "fish mouth" external os of the parous cervix.

Step 3. Add red clay to identify the columnar epithelium and squamocolumnar junction.

Step 4. Add white clay adjacent to the squamocolumnar junction to represent the VIA-positive acetowhite lesion.

Step 5. Mount the parous cervix model in the same position as the nulliparous model.

Interchange the two cervix models to practise recognition of anatomical variation.

The simulator is intended for VIA visual-recognition training.

The source does not reproduce speculum insertion or removal. Learners therefore need separate experience or training for that component of the pelvic examination.

For the companion Thermal Ablation Simulator, the exposed aluminium-foil liner provides the conductive connection used by the augmented-feedback circuit.

• The source specifically requires water-based soft clay for the cervix models. Preserve that physical formulation.
• Do not replace that source wording with the oil-based/stiffer clay used by the separate IUD simulator.
• Broader Modeling Compound parent/class governance remains separate from this simulator correction.
• The paper cylinder represents the Vaginal Canal.
• Aluminium foil is a conductive feedback component and does not create a Vaginal Canal anatomy edge.
• Tongue depressors are structural reinforcement and mounting components. They are not TissueDB Materials pages.
• Cellophane on the pencil tip is a temporary fabrication barrier and has no anatomy target.
• No Structure implementation is introduced by this correction.