Zilico to exhibit pioneering device for rapid detection of cervical
cancer at Medica
3 November 2009
A pioneering device that offers a quicker, more accurate
detection of cervical cancer in real time, removing several weeks of
waiting for a diagnosis, is being exhibited by Sheffield-based Zilico
Ltd for the first time at Medica 2009.
Zilico's APX is a portable hand-held device that measures the
resistivity of cells and detects any changes as they progress from
normal through to a cancerous state.
Cervical cancer affects around 500,000 women worldwide each year and is
responsible for 300,000 deaths so the ability of the APX to provide
objective and accurate results in ‘real-time’ means it will offer a
quicker diagnosis for both patients and clinicians worldwide.
It will help to better manage the disease and also significantly reduce
morbidity due to over-treatment and under-treatment due to false
negative smears.
The system is safe and painless and has two functionalities within the
one unit: the APX 100, which supports clinicians within their diagnostic
procedure and the APX 200, which is a point-of-care (POC) test.

The Zilico APX
The APX100 enables colposcopists to better target biopsy sites helping
to reduce the number of diagnostic biopsies and avoid the gross
over-treatment of mild abnormalities. It has undergone four separate
clinical trials and is currently in the middle of an EU multi-centre
trial. Once this is completed, it will be launched across the European
Union in 2010.
The APX 200 application is being targeted at the cervical screening
market as it provides a real-time diagnosis at the primary point-of-care
thus reducing the significant traffic in the healthcare system between
primary care, cytology laboratories and colposcopy clinics. Ultimately
it will result in a more effective application of limited healthcare
resources.
Sameer Kothari, Chief Executive of Zilico Limited, said: “In
countries where organised screening is still not established the APX 200
provides an opportunity to rapidly deploy screening programmes without
the significant capital infrastructure costs of building and running
pathology laboratories. It is safe, painless, and accurate and we are
delighted to be presenting it at MEDICA 2009.”