As a result of the transition from obtaining cervical smears for diagnostic purposes only to obtaining them for preventive health screening, it became clear that automated imaging and evaluation would be inevitable; screening entails many more preparations needing to be assessed along with an anticipated reduction in the identification of abnormal findings. A uniform method of preparing specimens facilitates scanning and organising. Instead of the usual smearing of cervical specimens, a method has since been devised for creating thin-layer specimens. Current techniques for automated imaging allow by computer-assisted screening a preselection of deviant cells and cell groups that are later visually assessed by an analyst. There are two compact ('bench top') systems available that have similar features; their use generally corresponds to the way conventional cervical smears are processed. Computer-assisted screening saves laboratories time. Interpreting the cell groups preselected by the computer remains a human task.