A glove and a life-saving breast cancer detection app.
Called BreastIT, it’s a mobile breast cancer diagnosis tool that uses a glove, code named ‘The Hyphen Glove’ that performs ultrasound to give a clear picture of the inner parts of the breast.
The images are obtained through the use of an external hardware glove attached to a cellphone via a cable. Piezoelectric crystals (which convert mechanical energy into electricity or vice-versa) are attached to the palm area of the glove.
When the glove is hovered over the breast, the crystals generate ultrasound waves that scan the inner part of the breast until clear images can be seen. These images are sent to the phone via Bluetooth for analysis.
These images are run through a mobile Windows OS database, which performs an analysis and sends back results that can be saved to the phone and shared with medical professionals.
In addition to being a diagnostic tool, the app has a video tutorial on how to check breasts for anomalies, as well as information on lifestyles risk factors.
It also provides information on the nearest radiologists, making it easier and quicker to seek medical advice, particularly in places like rural Uganda where there is a scarcity of medical consultants and specialists.
Developed by three IT graduates from Makerere University in Uganda, Moris Atwine, Kabwama Alvin Leonard, Lwangwa Mwesigwa David, these visionaries have turned their passion for IT into the possibility of increasing the number of breast cancer survivors through early detection.
See the website: http://thehyphengloveproject.wordpress.com
Another major recent advance in cancer research and treatment coming from African innovators is Nigerian-born Dr Samuel Achilefu who invented glasses that enable doctors to see cancer cells in the dark.