The ultrasound device designed by MIT researchers is a flexible patch that can be attached to a bra.
In the study, the researchers showed that they could obtain ultrasound images with resolution comparable to that of the ultrasound probes used in medical imaging centers.
The researchers hope that the wearable could allow people to detect tumors when they are still in early stages. When caught in the early stages breast cancer survival rate is nearly 100 percent. However, for tumors detected in later stages, that rate drops to around 25 percent.
“We changed the form factor of the ultrasound technology so that it can be used in your home,” said Canan Dagdeviren, an associate professor in MIT’s Media Lab and the senior author of the study. “It’s portable and easy to use, and provides real-time, user-friendly monitoring of breast tissue.”
Dagdeviren was inspired to create the wearable following the death of her aunt, who was diagnosed with late-stage breast cancer at age 49. At her aunt’s bedside, Dagdeviren drew up a rough schematic of the device.
Dagdeviren designed a miniaturized ultrasound scanner that could allow the user to perform imaging at any time. This scanner is based on the ultrasound technology used in medical imaging centers, but uses a novel piezoelectric material that allows for miniaturization.
To make the device wearable, the researchers designed a flexible, 3D-printed patch, with honeycomb-like openings that attaches to the bra using magnets.
The ultrasound scanner fits inside a small tracker that can be moved to six different positions, allowing the entire breast to be imaged. The scanner can also be rotated to take images from different angles.
“My goal is to target the people who are most likely to develop interval cancer,” says Dagdeviren, whose research group specializes in developing wearable electronic devices that conform to the body. “With more frequent screening, our goal is to increase the survival rate to up to 98 percent.”
The research was published recently in Science Advances.