Using the AUTO-CYTO-SCREENER, which has been developed in the Center for Adult Diseases, Osaka, the smears collected in mass examinations for cervical cancer by the self-collection have been screened automatically and experimentally.
This apparatus, having a color TV camera as a sensor, can entirely automatically screen vaginal smears stained by the Feulgen reaction, and distinguish squamous cancer cells from benign cells by measuring nuclear size and stain concentration. However, this apparatus still cannot differentiate exactly a single cancer cell from a neutrophile and/or bacteria clump.
To overcome this difficulty, a special method for the preparation of smears in which cells are dispersed and uniformly distributed was devised. Furthermore, it is desirable to get as many samples as possible which consist of dispersed squamous cells only, not including many leukocytes and/or bacteria. For this purpose, childbearing-age women were instructed to collect smears in the middle of the menstrual cycle, and postmenopausal women were requested to take Mestranol before collecting samples. Up to now, 2, 070 such specimens have been prepared and examined for suitability for automatic screening. Of these samples, 63.1% were found to be suitable or rather suitable specimens for automatic screening. Mestranol medication was found especially effective in making the specimens suitable for automatic screening. In addition, if it were possible to choose only the examinees without any subjective symptoms, about 3/4 of the samples given would be suitable specimens for automatic screening.
In conclusion, for putting the automatic cytoscreening apparatus to practical use, monolayered and well-dispersed smears should be made. To this end, it is imperative that we adopt special methods for specimen preparation. And also, it seems necessary to get as many samples as possible, including dispersed squamous cells only by means of selecting examinees without any subjective symptoms, appointing the best time for sampling or controling the nature of samples of sex hormone medication.
