Surgilube - The Only Approved Lubricant For the Hologic ThinPrep Pap Test

Why is Surgilube the only Lubricant that can be used with the Hologic ThinPrep Pap Test? 

Most lubricants use Carbomers or other thickening agents as part of their ingredients.  These Carbomers and thickening agents do not dissolve during the process of cell collection in liquid-based methods.  These undissolved ingredients increase the risk of contaminating or obscuring the cellular sample and causing a repeat Pap test to be required.

Hologic, the manufacture of the ThinPrep pap test, has conducted extensive testing to determine which Carbomer Free lubricants can be used safely with the ThinPrep test.  Several lubricants were approved for use with the ThinPrep pap test.  Of these approved products only  Surgilube is licensed for sale in Canada by Health Canada, making it the only lubricant available to Canadian physicians using the Thin Prep Pap test.