Detecting breast cancer with a wearable patch

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

This year, more than 350,000 women in the U.S. will be diagnosed. Early detection increases survival rates by up to 98%.

If the cancer enters a late stage, the survival rate drops to just 22%. That’s why it’s vital for women 40 and older to have their annual mammogram screening.

Now, there may be an even easier way to screen at home.

The devastating diagnosis of late-stage breast cancer struck Fatma when she was just 49 years old. Watching her aunt’s struggle inspired Canan Dagdeviren to save others.

“I spent her last few days with her, and just to comfort her, I was just sketching an electronic bra on a piece of paper,” Dagdeviren said.

Over the next seven years, Dagdeviren and her team at MIT worked on a patch that can be used by women at home to detect changes in their breast health over time.

Made by a 3D printer, the plastic patch sits over a bra. Ultrasound images are captured by a tiny tracker that moves around the patch, rotating 360 degrees, providing real-time images at multiple angles. It works on all types of breasts, including dense breasts.

“You can just wear it for a few minutes, and then you can take it off and just wear your normal bra and do your daily activities,” Dagdeviren said.

She believes the ultrasound patch could save millions of lives around the world every year.

“Back then, it was just a dream on a piece of paper. Now, it’s real, and we touch many people’s lives and bodies,” Dagdeviren said.

Half of women who are high risk develop breast cancer between their yearly mammograms.

The ultrasound patch could not only help save their lives but also provide women in lower-income countries access to screening.

Currently, the ultrasound patch is in a larger-scale clinical trial and hopes to be FDA-approved in the next five years.