Preventive care

The number of patients that can be treated for cervical cancer and the number of mortalities that result from cervical cancer varies enormously from country to country. The decisive factor in these cases being the effectiveness with which preventive health care functions. Countries with an established preventive health care program in which cases of cervical cancer are discovered and registered in a very early stage, are the most succesful in the fight against this type of cancer. Such a health care program must be a total program.

The various components are of vital importance: Skilled cytopathologists and cyto-technologists, a faultless registration system, patient education and, last but not least, GOOD INSTRUMENTS for obtaining smears.

A number of shortcomings in smear quality is clearly apparent in the laboratories. A relatively high number of slides are bloodied or difficult to read due to an inadequate number of cells.

This entails a great number of patients having to undergo a repeat investigation, or worse still, that a number of slides will be incorrectly evaluated and a number of cases of early cancer remain undetected. This is unacceptable to patients, to doctors and also to the entire health care system.

Smear quality
The inclusion of cells from the entire cervical area is an essential condition for a good and representative smear: The sampling device must collect cells from the inside of the endocervical canal (endocervical cells), from the transition zone (T-zone) and from the ectocervix (ectocervical cells).

In each individual woman the shape of the cervix uteri is unique. Over the years the shape of the uterine cervix changes. It is well known that as age increases the T-zone moves higher into the cervix. As certain types of cancer begin in the T-zone it is vital that cells from this area are sampled during cervical investigation. This is not optimally possible with devices presently used. None of the cell-samplers illustrated here is capable of collecting cell samples from the whole of the required area of each individual cervix.

European guidelines for quality assurance in cervical cancer screening

The Rovers® Cervex-Brush®
is an officially recommended cell sampling device for Liquid-based as well as conventional cytology in the European guideline.
1. The round brush only samples endocervical cells. A spatula is still necessary for the ectocervical area.
2. Only the inside of the cervix can be reached using a cotton swab, and it certainly does not collect all of the necessary cells
3. The wooden spatula scrapes once along the endocervical area and twice along the ectocervical zone. As the shape of the cervix in most women is not the same shape as the spatula used by the doctor, the T-zone is often not reached.

The Solution
Rovers Medical Devices B.V. recognised and analysed the shortcomings in the preventive investigation for cervical cancer. Based on their specialist knowledge of medical instruments, and in collaboration with the medical authorities in the field of cancer research, Rovers Medical Devices B.V.has developed a new product. For this reason, a schedule of requirements was drawn up with the intention to achieve the objective outlined below:
A female-friendly product,
that samples all cells necessary in one movement,
that smears the cells evenly on the specially prepared slides,
and is suitable for nearly every cervix shape.
After 2.5 years of experimentation Rovers Medical Devices B.V. arrived at a totally new concept. A product has been created which fully meets all of the necessary requirements and which is capable of reducing all former problems to a minimum. That product is the Rovers® Cervex-Brush®.

Specifications
The Rovers® Cervex-Brush® (Cervix-Examination-Brush) is made of polyethylene and has a total length of 20 centimeters. The upper part, which is used to obtain cell samples, is a soft, flexible brush. The brush consists of 57 semi-circular plastic bristles of various lengths. The shape is such that the top edges of the brush follow the contours of the cervix. The middle and longest bristles reach deep into the endocervical canal. The shorter bristles touching both the ectocervical area and transformation zone at the same time.

Application
By inserting the Rovers® Cervex-Brush® into the cervical canal and rotating five times in a clockwise direction whilst applying light pressure, all the necessary cells can be collected in one movement. The cell material adheres to the flat sides of the bristles and can be smeared accordingly in a perfect "track" on to the glass slide.

Identification and benefits: - Surgical scrub-brush with sponge and nailcleaner - Contains 1,1% iodine in detergent solution. - Dispenserbox is easy to open - Exterminates gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria - Destroys fungi,viruses, protozoa and yeasts - Fast and effective - Latex-free - Individually packed - Openings beneath the sponge release a flow of detergent in the bristles during scrubbing - Optimal cleaning through the high density of soft hairs. - Used worldwide - Complies with EN-12054 for hygenic and surgical hand-rubbing - Easy ready-to-use system using dispenserbox in combination with the available walldispenser - 25 brushes in a dispenserbox, 15 dispenserboxes in a despatchbox

Identification and benefits: - Surgical scrub-brush with sponge and nailcleaner - Contains 4% chlorhexidine gluconate in detergent solution. - Dispenserbox is easy to open - Exterminates gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria - Destroys fungi,viruses, protozoa and yeasts - Fast and effective - Latex-free - Individually packed - Openings beneath the sponge release a flow of detergent in the bristles during scrubbing - Optimal cleaning through the high density of soft hairs. - Used worldwide - Complies with EN-12054 for hygenic and surgical hand-rubbing - Easy ready-to-use system using dispenserbox in combination with the available walldispenser - 25 brushes in a dispenserbox, 15 dispenserboxes in a despatchbox.