In 2015, while working as a postdoctoral fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Janan Dadiviren learned that her aunt Fatma had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer. She was researching flexible instruments that capture biological data and flew to the Netherlands to accompany her aunt in her final moments.
Cuddling in her aunt’s bed, Dadiviren sketched out an idea for a wearable bra-shaped device with embedded ultrasound waves. If the device scans the breast frequently, it may be able to detect cancer before it spreads. He wanted to at least provide some relief to his aunt, who was going through an unimaginably painful experience.
The idea stuck with Dadiviren when he got a job at MIT the following year. Now an assistant professor of media and art at MIT’s Media Lab, Dadiviren now heads the conformable decoder research group. Her team’s goal is to capture and decipher the world’s physical patterns. This includes creating electronic devices that sit close to the body and collect data.
It took a while due to a lack of funding and technical issues, but six and a half years after he sketched it by his aunt’s bedside, Dadiviren finally brought his improvised sketch to life. Her team’s latest invention is an ultrasound machine made from a flexible material that attaches magnetically to a bra. “No longer a dream on paper, the technology has become a reality. You can hold it in your hand, touch it, put it in people’s chests, and discover abnormalities.”
Scan every day for early detection
Breast cancer screening is an imperfect science. The best tool doctors have is a mammogram (breast x-ray), which is usually taken every two or three years starting when a woman turns 40 or 50. To reduce radiation exposure, medical examinations must be spaced out. We all know the shape of the breast, but for mammography, it is necessary to sandwich the breast between two plates. This is not only uncomfortable, but even if there is a tumor, it is crushed and difficult to see. Furthermore, cancer in women with dense breast cells is difficult to detect with mammography.
Meanwhile, Dadiviren et al.’s 3D-printed, palm-sized, honeycomb-shaped ultrasound machine can hug the shape of your breast and send real-time images to a smartphone app (that’s the plan, but for now) , the only way to view ultrasound images is to connect it to a conventional ultrasound machine). “You can get data while drinking coffee.” Dadi Viren says.
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In developing this new device, it was necessary to use ultrasound technology in a small size. To do this, the team incorporated a new piezoelectric material that can exchange physical pressure into electrical energy.
The challenge that Dadiviren and her team are currently tackling is to detect breast cancer more quickly. One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer during her lifetime. In 2020, 685,000 women and men died from breast cancer. If, instead of testing one site every two years, we could scan every day with something like Dadiviren’s device, we could collect and analyze 730 pieces of data, potentially detecting malignant tumors much earlier. It gets expensive. Dadiviren says the device could save 12 million lives each year.
Possibilities beyond breast cancer detection
In July 2023, the team announced the firstproof of concept paperwas published in Science Advances magazine. The paper reveals that researchers detected a tumor in the breast of a 71-year-old woman that was just 3mm in diameter. The team is currently preparing a trial with a wider range of subjects. Dadiviren plans to reach out to MIT’s female faculty across departments to collaborate.
