Breast cancer is one of the most diagnosed cancers worldwide. If caught and treated early enough, the survival rate exceeds 90 percent. Unfortunately, survival can drop as low as 25 percent fairly quickly if detection occurs later in the progression of the disease. In the United States, women over the age of 50 are recommended to get routine screenings every two years, but more aggressive tumors can appear between screenings. Aside from physical examination, two of the most common screening methods are mammography (mammogram), which is x-ray based, and ultrasound. Whereas mammography is more sensitive for routine screenings of women over age 60, ultrasound typically has higher sensitivity for those under 45 years old because of higher breast tissue density. See also: Breast cancer and other breast disorders; Mammography; Radiology

The new scanner, shown as worn here, could help detect aggressive breast tumors early. (Credit: Canan Dagdeviren/Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

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Diagnostic ultrasound, also called sonography or diagnostic medical sonography, is a procedure that uses sound waves to produce images of internal structures of the body. Medical professionals use a device called a transducer or probe, which contains piezoelectric materials able to both emit ultrasound waves and detect the ultrasound echoes that are reflected back. When these echoes hit the transducer, they generate electrical signals that are sent to the ultrasound scanner. A computer then converts the pattern of electrical signals into real-time images or videos, which are displayed on a computer screen. Presently, a typical ultrasound scanning machine is rather bulky and uses physical compression of the breast to obtain ultrasound images of the tissue. See also: Biomedical ultrasonics; Medical imaging; Piezoelectricity; Ultrasonics

A team of scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a miniaturized scanner using a new type of piezoelectric material that provides better penetration of deep tissue, using lower voltage. The device consists of three layers. The first, closest to the skin, is a fabric bra with six holes aligned to fall beneath the six magnet-rimmed openings on the sensor. The second layer is the sensor device itself, made of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) and polylactic acid (PLA), which are two common 3D printing materials. The final layer is the tracker, a small piece with a handle on top that the user slides through a path in the honeycomb array to take the image. The bottom end of the tracker contains three magnets on equidistant prongs for easy placement and is sandwiched between the skin and the underside of the sensor device. See also: 3D printing

This first-of-its-kind scanner is a wearable, conformable ultrasound breast patch that enables easier imaging without the need for a trained operator or uncomfortable tissue compression. The scanner’s honeycomb shape and phased array allow for large-area, deep scanning and multiangle imaging. Phased arrays are made of multiple transducers (electronic components that convert energy from one form to another), whose timing is precisely controlled to build a constructive interference wavefront, which simply means that the data from each transducer can be stitched together to build a complete image. By changing the time delays in the array, the resulting wavefront can be pointed in different directions and focused at different depths without requiring mechanical motion. Honeycomb structures minimize material use during manufacturing, maximize material flexibility, provide structural stability, and can easily be upscaled to cover larger areas of skin. The tracker can be moved through up to 15 hexagonal sections, enabling easier localization than the typical four-quadrant designation method. See also: Materials science and engineering; Transducer

To test their device, the team recruited a female subject with a history of breast abnormalities and took images using both their device and an established ultrasound probe. Both methods were able to reveal two cysts: one with a diameter of one centimeter (cm), and one with a diameter of 0.3 cm. The phased array was unable to capture some shallow areas closer to the skin’s surface, but the device would still be appropriate for viewing deeper lesions because breast tumors have a very low probability of occurring in superficial tissue layers near the skin and fat. The device’s ability to identify abnormalities at a 0.1 cm resolution is essential for early breast cancer detection before tumors can reach a dangerous threshold of two cm in size. See also: Cancer; Tumor

This novel device shows promise for accessible at-home monitoring of breast tissue. Importantly, it removes the requirement for an operator to constantly hold the device, freeing one’s hands to carry out a screening independently. The maneuverability of the tracker allows for images to be taken in different positions and at different angles. The reusability of the device, its ease of operation, resolution, and repeatability of imaging results could make earlier detection of breast cancer more common. Clinical trials are currently underway. See also: Oncology; Public health