Doctors say one in eight women will develop breast cancer in their lifetime. With early detection being the key to fighting cancer, one company has invented a bra that may revolutionize how women can beat the odds.
Called “First Warning Systems” this hi-tech bra has been under development for the last 20 years by the company Lifeline Technologies. The company claims the bra screens breast tissues and looks for abnormalities. But how?
The bra is made of sports bra-like materials that has small sensors which can detect minute changes in the temperature of breast tissue – which occurs with breast cancer cells – according to Lifeline. The self-exam bra is worn for a testing period and the sensors collect temperature data. This data is then uploaded to a Web site that uses “sophisticated algorithms” and the results can be viewed on your computer, tablet, or mobile phone.
Early trials have indicated the bra has detected abnormalities with a 90 percent and higher accuracy rating that traditional methods such as mammograms in women of all ages. The bra also reduces false positives, which occur 50 – 60 percent of the time with other detection methods.
If more clinical trials prove to be a success, the smart bra could be ready for purchase in Europe and the United States by 2014.
About 12 percent of women in the U.S. population will develop invasive breast cancer. In 2011, nearly 231,000 new invasive breast cancer cases were found in women.