BACKGROUND Oral rinse is a novel method that can be used to detect dysplasia in potentially malignant disorders and malignant oral lesions in resource challenged areas. A study was undertaken to compare the quality of the normal smears prepared with the oral rinse and that of the wooden tongue spatula. MATERIAL AND METHODS One hundred five normal subjects were selected for the study. Two smea...

A study was made of the contribution of the cytobrush to determining the composition of the cervical smear. From a population of women screened in The Netherlands in 1987, 733 women were selected whose smears for the second time in a row lacked endocervical cells. Note was made of method of contraception, age of the woman, and day of the menstrual cycle. A control group was formed of women whos...

Geckos can run rapidly on walls and ceilings, requiring high friction forces (on walls) and adhesion forces (on ceilings), with typical step intervals of approximately 20 ms. The rapid switching between gecko foot attachment and detachment is analyzed theoretically based on a tape model that incorporates the adhesion and friction forces originating from the van der Waals forces between the subm...

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of ectocervical sampling methods and sequence on Papanicolaou smear adequacy. METHODS A randomized clinical trial was performed using either a curved cytologic sampling brush or Ayre spatula for ectocervical sampling before or after a straight sampling brush for endocervical sampling. RESULTS The adequacy of ectocervical smear...

Liquid-based cytology uses a different method for preparing cervical cells for cytological examination than the Pap smear test (i.e. conventional cytology or CC). Cells are collected from the cervix using a brush, broom or spatula in the same way as they are collected for a Pap smear, but instead of smearing the cells directly onto a glass slide, the head of the brush or spatula is either rinse...