Daye's Diagnostic Tampon for STI/HPV screening is recognised as a TIME Invention of the Year for 2024

In a 2000 study, researchers in South Africa used tampons to detect sexually transmitted infections in women, finding 247 cases of the parasite trichomonas, which causes the infection trichomoniasis. Having long struggled with gynecological health conditions, Valentina Milanova realized this convenient, at-home testing method could substitute for hours spent waiting at clinics.