Smart bra to detect early cancer

Eighty per cent of breast cancer cases occur in the over-50s

A university in Greater Manchester is developing a special bra which will allow users to detect early stage breast cancer.

The University of Bolton's Centre for Research and Innovation (CMRI) hopes to see the life-saving underwear go into production in the next two years.

The smart bra works using a microwave antennae system device woven into it.

The antennae picks up abnormal temperature changes in breast tissue which are associated with cancer cells.

Early detection

The bra will also be able to evaluate the effectiveness of any breast cancer treatment that the wearing is undergoing.

An audible or visual alarm will alert users to the potential need for further medical diagnosis and assessment.

More than 44,000 people are diagnosed with breast cancer each year in the UK and 80% of all cases occur in over-50s.

CMRI director Professor Elias Siores, who is developing the bra, said that early detection will give women more confidence in the preliminary assessment stage and those with breast cancer the highest survival prognosis.

"The cancer detection is based on the principle that metabolic activity and vascular circulation in both pre-cancerous tissue and the area surrounding a developing breast cancer is almost always higher than in normal breast tissue," he said.

"This process results in an increase in regional internal and external temperatures of the breast.

"The microwave antennae has high sensitivity and can detect these temperature variations, which are the earliest indications of the breast cancer and/or a pre-cancerous state of the breast."

Prof Siore added that the cost of the cancer-detecting bra is not expected to be much more than the average cost of a traditional bra and said there were no health risks associated with this form of passive microwave technology.