PAP

PAP is an acronym that can refer to several different concepts depending on the context, spanning medicine, technology, and other fields. It is not tied to a single universal definition.

In medicine, PAP most commonly refers to the Papanicolaou test, or Pap test, a cervical cytology screening method used to detect precancerous changes and cervical cancer. Named after Georgios Papanikolaou, the test collects cells from the cervix and uses the Papanicolaou stain to examine them under a microscope. The Pap smear is a standard component of routine gynecological screening and is often performed in combination with human papillomavirus (HPV) testing for risk assessment.

Another medical use of PAP is positive airway pressure therapy, a treatment for sleep-disordered breathing such as obstructive sleep apnea. PAP devices deliver a constant or variable air pressure through a mask to keep the airway open during sleep. Variants include continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) and bilevel positive airway pressure (BPAP).

In technology and computing, PAP has been used as an acronym for several concepts, including Programmable Array Processor, a type of parallel-processing architecture employed in certain high-performance computing applications. The exact meaning of PAP in technical contexts can vary, so clarification is typically required.

Because PAP denotes multiple ideas across different domains, determining the intended meaning requires attention to the subject matter and surrounding context.