Bra-vo for this uplifting news.
Breast cancer cases are consistently on the rise, accounting for about 30% of all new female cancers annually and affecting more than 320,000 people this year alone.
A piece of wearable technology, though, could hold the key to earlier detection for one of the most common and deadliest cancers for women, giving new meaning to an underwired bra.
While mammograms are the standard way to get checked for cancer, starting at age 40 and recommended every year, earlier detection is oftentimes better for those who are high risk.
More wearable devices, like a miniaturized AI ultrasound scanner, are being created to detect breast cancer tumors in the early stages and create more accessible diagnostic methods in between mammograms.
Now, a French-Swiss research team is seeing promising results from a “smart bra” equipped with thermal sensors and artificial intelligence to screen for early signs of cancer.
The PHI-BRA smart bra system is a non-invasive device worn for 30 minutes using skin surface thermography to track changes in breast tissue temperature.
An increase in temperature can signal increased blood flow caused by a developing tumor or cancerous breast tissue.
The bra also uses surface electrodes for electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), a way to measure cell structure frequency, as breast tumors have different structures.
This combination of thermography and electrical impedance can measure both metabolic activity through the surface and tissue structural properties.
Data collected is then analyzed by artificial intelligence methods to check for any suspicious heat patterns.
The AI can also take into account any uncertainty in measurements, which allows for any anomalies to be located.
While not a direct replacement for mammogram screenings, the bra could serve as an additional and more accessible screening method in between doctor’s visits.
Although mammograms aren’t generally recommended until women hit 40, cases of life-threatening breast cancer are spiking among younger women.
Metastatic breast cancer — in which breast cancer cells have spread from the local area of the breast to another site of the body — increased by 3% from 2004 to 2021 among patients aged 20 to 39.
The PHI-BRA isn’t the first wearable device to catch cancer early, as researchers at MIT created a device that attaches to a bra and takes images of breast tissue with ultrasound technology.
The technology recorded the images of the breast tissue, which displayed cysts as small as 0.3 centimeters in diameter — the size of tumors at early stages of the disease.
Researchers plan to use artificial intelligence to analyze the ultrasound images and make diagnostic recommendations, adding it could be three or four years before the device is available to consumers.
Meanwhile, clinical trials of the PHI-BRA Smart Bra are still underway while the team looks to further expand their research and transferring the technology to a larger scale.
