New Mobile to Detect Breast Cancer
An Israeli psychologist has developed a radical new technology which would enable an ordinary mobile phone to diagnose breast cancer and various type of heart disease, the Haaretz daily has reported.
By installing new software and adding a basic infra-red camera, a mobile phone could be transformed into a highly-effective diagnostic tool, offering far more accurate results than the self-checks many women do themselves.
Dr Nitzan Yaniv, who developed the technology, said the results of the scan could be immediately transferred to a medical laboratory for analysis, which could determine whether further checks were necessary.
The infra-red camera uses two techniques, both of which have proved effective in diagnosing breast cancer: one analyses temperature differences in different parts of the breast, while the other analyses oxygen flow to areas of the breast.
Israeli phone operator Cellcom is working to integrate the infra-red sensor technology into the cameras currently built into many mobile handsets.
Dr Yaniv said he was first exposed to the benefits of infra-red photography while working with biofeedback - a therapy which trains a patient to control certain bodily functions which are usually unconscious, such as blood pressure or heart rate.
Biofeedback therapy can help patients control conditions such as high blood pressure, migraines or epilepsy, with infra-red cameras used to show data about the patient’s physical state.
With the cameras attached and the software installed, the mobile phone was transformed into the affordable equivalent of a biofeedback machine, Dr Yaniv said.
The device, which is still under development, has yet to be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The Soroka medical centre in the southern city of Beersheba is now testing the device’s ability to detect heart problems as well as breast cancer.