It took two hundred years to give the speculum a less "infernal" shape

For nearly two centuries, gynecological examinations have involved an object that many patients bluntly describe as "hellish": the vaginal speculum , made of metal or plastic, sadly known as the "duckbill." Sooner or later, everyone has had to experience this hard, cold, invasive instrument, which has remained essentially unchanged since 1840. The results are written in the testimonies and the numbers: approximately 30–35% of women feel shame , fear, or pain when undergoing vaginal exams, and often postpone necessary checkups. Moreover, if the equipment ignores the experience of those who undergo it, medicine ends up snubbing the very segment of patients it should protect and encourage.

The good news is that today there's something new. It's called "Lilium," the new speculum designed by two Dutch researchers, Ariadna Izcara Gual and Tamara Hoveling . Their goal is simple and radical: to transform a feared passage into a more tolerable gesture. Indeed, Lilium appears to use semi-flexible medical-grade TPV rubber, capable of combining mechanical resistance and flexibility in the opening of the blades —here reimagined as "petals." The floral shape isn't a whim, but rather serves to mitigate the psychological impact, replacing the aggressive iconography of the "duckbill" with a familiar silhouette.

The redesign begins with listening. In interviews conducted for the thesis project, many women reported pain during insertion and even removal, discomfort due to the "pistol" shape, a feeling of cold , and an overall discomfort that is not incidental. Lilium responds with a structure consisting of just two parts, a three-petal insert, and a tubular mechanism that gently separates the petals during the examination. The simplification also has environmental implications, because compared to many standard specula composed of nine parts, cleaning, sterilization, and reuse are easier.

Preliminary tests showed a unanimous preference for Lilium over the traditional model. Eight patients and seven healthcare workers (five nurses and two doctors) participated, and the results highlighted improved cervical visibility , particularly in patients with softer, more folded vaginal walls—an area in which "duckbill" instruments struggle—and greater perceived comfort throughout the examination. There's also a new approach that puts self-determination back at the center, namely the provision of two insertion methods: self-insertion (a gesture similar to that of a tampon) or insertion by a professional. The first option, observes Ariadna Izcara Gual, can make many patients feel more secure. And this is where gender-sensitive medicine makes a difference , not as a label but as a concrete design.

Lilium has already won the Young Medical Delta Thesis Award and is seeking partners to continue its development. If a less painful, more respectful, and more sustainable alternative exists today, it means that for too long we've settled for a design that doesn't speak to women. Rethinking instruments from the perspective of gender medicine is possible, and therefore certainly desirable. And perhaps the time has finally come to move from "it's always been done this way" to "we can do better."