(Nice News) — Fatma Caliskanoglu got regular breast cancer screenings, but still ended up developing the disease and dying just six months after her diagnosis. While sitting at her bedside, her niece Canan Dagdeviren started dreaming up a device that could prevent cases like her aunt’s — a device that could detect breast cancer in the time between mammograms.
Last week, that dream came to fruition when the MIT professor and a team of researchers published a study unveiling the Conformable Ultrasound Breast Patch. The wearable can attach to a bra and take ultrasound images at home that are comparable to those taken in medical settings. “It’s portable and easy to use, and provides real-time, user-friendly monitoring of breast tissue,” Dagdeviren said in a press release.
The technology could help spot interval cancer, breast tumors that form in between regularly scheduled screenings. Interval cancers account for 20%-30% of all breast cancer cases, and they tend to be harder to treat — the survival rate for patients with tumors detected in later stages is around 25%.
“My goal is to target the people who are most likely to develop interval cancer,” said Dagdeviren. “With more frequent screening, our goal [is] to increase the survival rate to up to 98%.”