Introduction

Cervical cancer remains one of the leading causes of cancer for women in medically underserved areas. LUCIA (Low-Cost Universal Cervical Cancer Instructional Apparatus) is a low-cost, universal cervical cancer instructional apparatus that can be used to teach and practice a variety of essential skills for cervical cancer screening, diagnosis, and treatment. Our objective in this final project is to design and prototype a LUCIA pelvic frame and cervix holder that demonstrates reliable functionality and, if possible, incorporates additional innovative features.

Design

Our pelvic frame design resembles the original design, consisting of a laser cut wood base and vertical holder plates. However, to improve LUCIA’s overall clinical functionality, we introduced two major innovations:

1. We implemented a screw mechanism in the standing foot to make the pelvic frame’s tilt adjustable. In the present configuration the frame is fixed at approximately 30° to replicate a common clinical inspection posture. However, patient anatomy, body habitus and clinical workflows vary substantially; an adjustable tilt enables the same frame to reproduce that variability. Allowing clinicians and trainees to practice examinations across a realistic range of pelvic orientations increases training fidelity and better prepares them to manage non-ideal, real-world patient positions, which is more common in areas with limited clinical resources.
2. We added a laser-cut revolver-style wood rotating disk to the cervix holder part, so multiple cervix models can be mounted at once and switched by simply rotating the disk. We also introduced a lock-and-load mechanism using magnet pieces and a linear slide engineered from wood rods and 3D-printed parts. The trainees can change between different pathology in seconds without needing to remove and re-secure the cervix models, which speeds up practice sessions and reduces handling of the cervix models to minimize wear and contamination.

We acknowledge that our design introduces additional mechanical complexity and raises both the cost and the effort required for assembly. However, we argue that these trade-offs are justified because the mechanism meaningfully improves the functionality of the instructional apparatus.

Iterations and Final Product

We went through two major iterations during our prototyping process. In our first iteration, our revolver disk used round openings to and secure the cervix holders, which accordingly had cylindrical backside extruders. During the design review, we received helpful feedback, especially the one that notes these round openings did not constrain the holders well, allowing them to wiggle during rotation. We used this insight to guide the next iteration of our design.

In our second (and final) iteration, we replaced the round openings with square ones and reshaped the backside extruders on the cervix holders to match. We also painted all externally exposed wood surfaces white to improve durability and protect the components from environmental wear. Below we present all parts involved in our final iteration and some views of our final product.

Cost Model Analysis

A major limitation of our current design is the overall cost of production, which would be a challenge if the apparatus were to be manufactured at scale. We believe the cost can be reduced in several ways:

1. We can cut down on the number of screws and nuts involved in the design. In this prototype we used more fasteners than necessary to guarantee stability, but this increases both per-unit cost and assembly labor.
2. The lock-and-load mechanism can be simplified. Our current design includes two wooden supports—one on the side and one at the back—for convenience and robustness, but the side support can be removed without affecting the overall functionality, reducing both part count and manufacturing complexity.

Per-unit cost for x units:

Cost Type	Cost	Price	Source	Quantity	Total
Materials	Basswood Sheathing Plywood (2 ft × 2 ft)	$8.00 / sheet	Home Depot	1 piece	$8.00
	Stainless Steel Screw and Nut	$14.72 / 710 pcs	Temu	49 pcs	$1.02
	PLA filament	$19.99 / kg	Bambu Labs	156.83 g	$3.14
	ABS filament	$19.99 / kg	Bambu Labs	73.18 g	$1.46
	Steel Rod (1/2 in)	$17.98 / 4 ft	Home Depot	3 inches	$1.12
	Wood Rod (1/2 in)	$2.34 / 48 in	Home Depot	6 inches	$0.29
	Magnet Piece	$3.61 / 10 pcs	Home Depot	1 pc	$0.36
Labor	Prototyping Engineer	$28 / hr	Glassdoor	24 hours	$672.00 / x
	3D Printing Engineer	$41 / hr	ZipRecruiter	30 mins (set-up)	$20.50 / x
	Laser Cutting Engineer	$46 / hr	ZipRecruiter	4 hours	$184.00 / x
	Post-processing	$25 / hr	Upwork	3 hours	$75.00
	Assembly	$41 / hr	ZipRecruiter	1 hour	$41.00
Overhead	3D Printing Machine Time	$0.04 / hr	Raise 3D	3 hours	$0.12
	Laser Cutter Machine Time	$20 / hr	Accurl	2 hours	$40.00
Total	$171.51 + $876.50 / x

Conclusion

This project brought together the fabrication and design techniques covered in the course—laser cutting, 3D printing, CNC machining, finishing and post-processing—into a single, working instructional apparatus. The process reinforced several practical lessons: early user feedback is essential for revealing real-world failure modes, and design-for-manufacturability must be considered alongside usability from the start. Although we are overall satisfied with our final product, we believe that more iterations need to be carried out to deploy our innovations in real-world scenarios. We sincerely hope that our design can contribute to the knowledge base of Rice 360.

Thanks everyone for this fantastic semester!

Group Member: Phong Tran, Siyuan Tao