Hi-tech sanitary pad will spot disease before any symptoms start
A team at the ETH Zurich university in Switzerland has developed a paper-based sensor which is embedded into a standard sanitary pad to detect possible health problems in under ten minutes. So far researchers have shown it can accurately measure the body's levels of C-reactive protein (an indicator of infections such as colds and flu); carcinoembryonic antigen (linked to tumour growth); and CA125 (a protein which may be a sign of ovarian cancer).
The sensor works similarly to a Covid test: the user wears the pad as normal and takes a photograph of the sensor following menstruation. The sensor, which is just below the top layer, displays lines or dots depending on the markers detected. The darker the colours, the higher the concentration is for the markers being tested.
The picture is uploaded to an app which uses AI to compare the picture with hundreds of other test strip images before producing a possible diagnosis.
'At the moment, we have a proof-of-concept with three bio-markers relevant for infection, gynaecological disorders and tumour development,' said Lucas Dosnon, a nanotechnology researcher at ETH Zurich and lead author of the study, recently published in Advanced Science News.
The team plans to include many more protein-based markers which will be able to point to a variety of other diseases or give general health insights. The sensor, called MenstruAI, costs around £1 to manufacture and contains gold nanoparticles which react when a protein is detected.
Gold nanoparticles are already used in a range of diagnostic applications because of their unique optical properties including their ability to scatter light – which mean they generate visible colour changes that can be seen with the naked eye.
'The sensor is embedded into a soft silicone casing that protects it,' says Lucas Dosnan. 'It's designed so that we can control the volume of blood that comes into contact with the paper strip.'
Women lose roughly 30 to 50ml of blood during their monthly period. Menstrual blood sensors have been in development for the past ten years at least.
The big attraction is that samples don't need to be collected by needle and are readily available every month.
In 2019, a team at Stanford University in California compared samples of menstrual blood with blood that circulates through the body from 20 women over two months. Results in the journal Clinical and Laboratory Medicine showed menstrual blood could reliably estimate levels of several bio-markers – including for diabetes and inflammation – as well as reproductive hormones, and so could be an alternative source for diagnosis and health monitoring.
In 2022, Paul Blumenthal, a professor emeritus of obstetrics and gynaecology at the Stanford School of Medicine and Dr Sara Naseri, a former Stanford Medicine visiting scholar, developed a smart menstrual pad that could detect human papillomavirus, or HPV, which is linked to cervical cancer.
Dr Naseri went on to co-found a company called Qvin and develop the first FDA-approved diagnostic menstrual pad, known as the Q-Pad.
Women wear the pad as normal, then a blood collection strip is sent to a laboratory to be analysed.
Results are returned within five days and, as well as HPV, can identify bio-markers for pre-diabetes, anaemia, perimenopause, endometriosis and thyroid health (it is not yet available, but women can sign up on the Qvin website to join a waitlist).
Lucas Dosnon says the latest test is not designed to replace laboratory tests, but to give early indications of potential problems that may require more detailed investigations.
It could be used for early screening of the general female population who want to have a better overview of their health, or it could help monitor disease progression in people who have already been diagnosed.
One example might be the inflammatory bowel condition Crohn's disease, where some patients need to do a monthly blood test to monitor their inflammation status.
The next step is to test it in a larger group of participants (the field study was a small group of volunteers). Lucas Dosnon says that once it has approval, it could be sold over the counter.
Gold is costly but expenses are reduced when manufacturing is scaled up and very little is needed.
'Gold nanoparticles are easy to use and very versatile,' says Lucas Dosnon, who adds that there is still some stigma about using menstrual blood in this way. 'Hopefully this project can help to break counterproductive taboos.'
Dr Karen Morton a consultant gynaecologist based in Guildford, told Good Health: 'This technology is interesting but there is a lot more to understand about how it may be used to really help improve women's health, if at all.
'The concern is that this may just encourage the worried well to spend more of their money.'
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