![Stilyana, an entrepeneur who was awarded top prize at WE Innovate, collects her medal](http://www.imperial.ac.uk/ImageCropToolT4/imageTool/uploaded-images/newseventsimage_1688563529073_mainnews2012_x1.jpg)
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An Imperial student startup has developed a self-use pelvic assessment tool and diagnosis device, supported by AI.
Matrix, a self-use cervical assessment tool, designed with patient comfort and wellbeing in mind, has been awarded the top prize of £15,000 in Imperial College London’s WE Innovate programme.
Tackling healthcare issues
Stilliyana Minkovska, Imperial alumni and health tech entrepreneur, is developing a device which can be inserted by patients to collect samples while a camera photographs cervical cells. She describes the device as a replacement for the speculum “which has barely changed since the Roman era."
This comes at a time when ‘no shows’ for cervical screening are at a 10-year high. A survey by the Department of Health and Social Care found embarrassment was the most common reason for not booking a cervical screening.
Stiliyana hopes this will “increase uptake of life-saving treatments” and ultimately improve the prognosis of cervical cancer.
The tool also has the capability to screen for STIs, including cervical warts and could be used for reproductive assessments.
![The cervical screening tool prototype sits on a shelf inbetween frames](http://www.imperial.ac.uk/ImageCropToolT4/imageTool/uploaded-images/5_1689067244116_x2.jpg?r=4050)
WE Innovate
WE Innovate is an entrepreneurship programme run by Imperial Enterprise Lab designed to inspire and accelerate the progress of women-led startups. At the in-person final, five finalists went head-to-head in the hope of winning a share of a £30,000 prize pot.
Previous winners of WE Innovate include a water quality monitoring tool for fish farmers, a blood tracking tool to diagnose gynaecological problems earlier, and a wastewater disease surveillance tool.
Runners up
Guerilla, co-founded by Summer Chen, was awarded second prize of £7,000 for her roadside drainage system that captures and removes pollution before it enters water systems.
The third prize of £5,000 was awarded to Carbon Cell, a carbon neutral replacement for polystyrene packaging which is made from waste products, and was co-founded bv Elizabeth Lee.
The runners up, each awarded £1,500, are AiKNIT, an adaptable ‘glove’ to promote faster and more effective healing in muscular disorders like arthritis and Aloe Health, a mental health assessment tool for parents.
Further awards
AiKNIT also received the Lauren Dennis Award; in memory of an incredible WE Innovator, this prize is awarded to the team demonstrating an exceptional entrepreneurial spirit in STEM. The recipient benefits from a 4-week fellowship with Become a Science Founder (BSF) by Wilbe.
PCOSENS received the Engineers in Business Award, which offers £3,000 in grant funding, mentorship and a professional CV package for entrepeneurs spanning engineering sciences, sponsored by Engineers in Business Fellowship.
Article text (excluding photos or graphics) © Imperial College London.
Photos and graphics subject to third party copyright used with permission or © Imperial College London.
Reporter
![Bryony Ravate](http://www.imperial.ac.uk/assets/news/img/avatar.png)
Bryony Ravate
Communications Division
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Contact details
Email: press.office@imperial.ac.uk
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