‘Smart bra’ uses sensors to detect breast cancer
US company First Warning Systems is developing a non-invasive, painless breast tissue screening bra that could be more accurate than 3D mammography.
The smart bra incorporates a number of innovative, patented sensors, which continuously measure tiny temperature changes that occur as blood vessels grow and feed tumours.
The sensors then work with recognition software to develop algorithms that help spot possible tumours long before a hand or mammogram likely would.
The company has so far tested the bra on 650 participants over three clinical trials. The system has been found to detect tumours up to six years before imaging can, and boasts a 92.1% level of accuracy, higher than the 70% accuracy of routine mammograms.
It is hoped that the technology will be commericalised in Europe in 2013, and in the US in 2014.
