Teen invents bra that could detect breast cancer early
Mexican student wins a global entrepreneur award for designing a bra that aids with early breast cancer detection.
After his mom had a double mastectomy when he was just 13, Julian Rios Cantu wanted to help other women combat breast cancer.
The Mexican student, now 18, designed a bra that alerts wearers to possible early signs of cancer using sensors that map the surface of the breast and surrounding areas.
Cantu's innovation just earned him the top prize at the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards, which were handed out in Frankfurt, Germany.
Cantu and three friends created the Eva bra through his company Higia Technologies.
A company video explains in Spanish how the Eva bra works. Two hundred small tactile biosensors map the surface of each breast and monitor changes in texture, color and temperature.
"As soon as there is a malformation of the breast or a tumor, there is an excess of vascularization," Cantu told Infobae. "The greater the flow of blood, the higher the temperature."
Data on any changes is sent to the bra wearer via an app.
The user only needs to wear the Eva bra between 60 to 90 minutes a week for it to compile useful information, Cantu and team hopes it will provide more accurate results than a breast self-exam and be less uncomfortable than a mammogram. Higia calls its undergarment an "autoexploration bra."
"The diagnosis came too late and my mother lost both of her breasts and, almost, her life," Cantu says in the video.
While the Eva bra is still in the prototype stage, those who want to stay updated on product can sign up for a newsletter (available in both English and Spanish) on the Higia Technologies website.
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