A vaginal speculum holds the vaginal canal open for examination or procedure, the modern instrument traces back to J. Marion Sims, and today's patterns split into two working principles: held-open by the examiner's hand, or self-retaining and weighted to free both hands for surgery. Peak Surgicals supplies eight patterns, Graves, Pederson, Sims Duckbill, Auvard, Steiner and Garrigue, from $11.00 to $88.00. Each is CE marked and built under ISO 13485. Compare all eight patterns in the grid below.
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Graves or Pederson: Which for Routine Exam?
The Graves speculum carries a wider, deeper blade suited to most adult patients and general pelvic examination, while the Pederson speculum runs narrower and shallower for patients where a standard blade causes discomfort or does not fit comfortably. This is the everyday choice most practices make first, before reaching for anything specialised.
Graves Vaginal Speculum (from $11.00) is the default for routine pelvic exams, Pap smears and cervical examination, wide enough to give clear visualisation without being the largest option available. The Graves Open Side (from $33.00) and Graves Expanded View (from $11.00) variants extend that visualisation further, useful where the base pattern's opening limits the view. Pederson Vaginal Speculum (from $16.50) trades blade width for a narrower profile, better tolerated where a Graves blade is uncomfortable. Sims Duckbill Speculum (from $11.00, PS-SDS-00185) offers a further shape option for the same routine-exam category. We supply every pattern at MOQ.
Weighted and Self-Retaining: When Hands Need to Be Free
Weighted specula like the Auvard, Steiner and Garrigue hold themselves open through a spherical or heavy handle rather than requiring the examiner's grip, freeing both hands for suturing, delivery or another procedure step happening at the same time. This second category exists for a different job entirely, not diagnostic viewing, but surgical access during a procedure that needs the surgeon's hands elsewhere.
Auvard Weighted Vaginal Speculum (from $88.00) carries the classic design: a half-tube blade bent at a right angle to a weighted, spherical-ended handle, used in obstetric and gynaecological surgery to keep the canal open hands-free. Steiner Speculum ($77.00, PS-1830) follows the same principle with a shallow half-blade at a right angle to its weight. Garrigue Vaginal Speculum ($71.50, PS-1827) offers a further weighted pattern. All three sit at the higher end of the price range, reflecting the heavier construction and precision weighting the self-retaining function depends on.
Reprocessing, Blade Integrity and Certification
These instruments are forged from stainless steel, corrosion-resistant across the high-frequency autoclave cycles a gynaecology tray sees. The blade edges and locking screw are the inspection points on hinged patterns: check that the blade opens smoothly and holds its set position, since a speculum that drifts closed mid-examination compromises the view it was inserted to give. On weighted patterns, confirm the weight is securely fixed to the handle.
Every instrument is Class I, reusable, CE marked and built under ISO 13485, the documentation a hospital supply team verifies before qualifying a vendor. Warranty is one year with return-and-replacement, MOQ is 1 piece, orders over $99 ship free in carton box packing, and OEM marking is available for distributors. For electrosurgical and LEEP-compatible patterns see electrosurgical speculum; related patterns sit in vaginal specula. Browse all gynecology instruments. Talk to us about OEM and volume terms.
