How is the Pap smear done?

So how is the test done? While a woman lies on an exam table, the clinician inserts a speculum into her vagina to widen it. A sample of cells is taken from the cervix with a wooden scraper and/or a small cervical brush. The cells are then prepared for analysis in either of two ways.

1. In a conventional Pap test, the specimen (or smear) is placed on a glass microscope slide and a fixative is added. The slide is then sent to a laboratory for examination.

2. In an automated, liquid-based cytology Pap test, cervical cells collected with a brush or other instrument are placed in a vial of liquid preservative. The vial is sent to a laboratory, where an automated device prepares a thin layer of cells on a slide for analysis under a microscope.

In the United States, automated liquid-based cytology has largely replaced conventional Pap tests. One advantage is that samples can also be tested for the presence of human papillomavirus (HPV), certain types of which cause most cervical cancers. Liquid-based cytology also appears to reduce the likelihood of an unsatisfactory specimen.

Source: US. National cancer institute

So how is the test done? While a woman lies on an exam table, the clinician inserts a speculum into her vagina to widen it. A sample of cells is taken from the cervix with a wooden scraper and/or a small cervical brush. The cells are then prepared for analysis in either of two ways.

1. In a conventional Pap test, the specimen (or smear) is placed on a glass microscope slide and a fixative is added. The slide is then sent to a laboratory for examination.

2. In an automated, liquid-based cytology Pap test, cervical cells collected with a brush or other instrument are placed in a vial of liquid preservative. The vial is sent to a laboratory where an automated device prepares a thin layer of cells on a slide for analysis under a microscope.

In the United States, automated liquid-based cytology has largely replaced conventional Pap tests. One advantage is that samples can also be tested for the presence of human papillomavirus, certain types of which cause most cervical cancers. Liquid-based cytology also appears to reduce the likelihood of an unsatisfactory specimen.

Source: US National Cancer Institute