Alumna launches funding campaign for reproductive health screening kit

Image of sample collection device
Wednesday, June 1, 2016 - 8:15pm

Jessica Ching (2009, Industrial Design) has launched an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign to take her product, the Eve Kit, to market.

The Eve Kit is designed to be a convenient and accurate way for women to screen for common infections that can lead to cervical cancer (HPV), pelvic inflammatory disease, or infertility (Chlamydia and others).

The kit, ordered online, allows women to obtain a sample at home with a discreet collection device and place it in a pre-addressed box to be sent to the lab. Test results become available online in a secure patient information portal in a matter of days.

In a clinical study, over 4000 women were tested using the device. 81 per cent said they preferred it to a doctor-collected method.

Some women don’t have access to a physician or the time to make appointments for Pap tests and other routine reproductive health screening. Others are uncomfortable with the procedure. Ching hopes that the device will encourage more women to get tested and be aware of their reproductive health.

Ching has received a number of prizes for her innovative product in its early stages, including an award from the National Research Council of Canada’s Industrial Research Assistance Program and an OCE Market Readiness Grant.