New cervical cancer screenings could avoid Pap test: researchers – CTV
June 29, 2025
Innovative new technology could soon mean that screening for cervical cancer won’t be as uncomfortable as a Pap test, according to two Waterloo, Ont., researchers.
CELLECT Laboratories co-founders CT Murphy and Ibukun Elebute have been exploring the use of nanomaterials in menstrual pads to non-invasively detect human papillomavirus (HPV), a leading cause of cervical cancer.
Murphy says her first experience with a Pap test prompted her to create this innovation as a final-year project studying nanotechnology at the University of Waterloo (uWaterloo).
“They are one of the most uncomfortable and archaic experiences I’ve ever had in the medical industry,” Murphy told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview.
“I was really taken aback with how little pain management there was.”
Murphy later partnered with Elebute, a fellow uWaterloo alum with a background in biomedical and mechanical engineering, as well as business, to found CELLECT Laboratories Inc.
