**5. Material needed**

A pathologist and trained personnel in the collection of the specimen is an important ingredient in conducting the investigation. Other items needed are 95% alcohol for fixing of slides, and a jar to contain the specimen.

Over the years various sampling items have been introduced. The traditional wooden Ayrles spatula was initially used but has some limitations as the failure of accessing the endocervix, which is the point of origin of 20% of adenocarcinomas of the cervix. Specimen collections devices include the broom and the endocervical bush (cytobrush) with both having the ability to access the endocervix more than the traditional spatula. The plastic spatula is preferable to the wooden variety because the collected samples are more adherent to the wooden spatula and may be discarded with the spatula after use (Goodman, Hutchinson, 1996.)
