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Wearable infra-red pre-screening smartbra for early detection of breast cancer


E.O. Nwoye
O.P. Fidelis
O. Ogunsolu

Abstract

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide, comprising 16% of all female cancers and early diagnosis remains an important detection strategy. The aim of this study was to design and implement a user-friendly SmartBra. An infra-red (IR) imaging sensor was deployed to determine the temperature profile of the breast for this application. The device was tested with approval from the Health Research EthicsĀ  Committee of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital using healthy persons and persons already diagnosed with different stages of breast cancer. The results showed high sensitivity and specificity with good intra-examiner reliability for absolute values of mean temperature for the right breast and very good reproducibility for the left breast. Data for healthy participants revealed that the difference in absolute temperature between the left and right breast was less than 1oC, while that of the sick (cancer) participants indicated values greater than 1oC. The device is safe and easy to use and therefore can serve as an adjunct diagnostic device for early detection of breast cancer.


Keywords: breast cancer, early detection, infra-red thermography, mammography.


Journal Identifiers


eISSN: 2467-8821
print ISSN: 0331-8443