After Mom Diagnosed with Breast Cancer, Teen Develops Incredible Bra That Detects Cancer
When I was in middle school, one of my science teachers helmed something we called the Invention Convention. Basically, students had to come up with some gadget or gizmo in order to get a good grade.
I “invented” a stopper that would allow you to tell exactly how far you should pull your car into your garage. It was a tennis ball on a string that you hung from the ceiling.
Even the most generous instructor could hardly call the gadget innovative. But a boy from Mexico turned a family crisis into an amazing invention.
According to the educational website Curiosity, Mexican student Julián Ríos Cantú was only 13 years old when his mother was diagnosed for the second time with breast cancer.
Doctors initially told her not to worry about the lump she found. They consoled her, telling her it was benign.
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The only problem was that it wasn’t. The lumps soon swelled exponentially and Julián’s mother had to take drastic steps.
She underwent a double mastectomy and watching her suffering prompted Julián to do something about it. The young teen came up with an ingenious device that he hoped would help other women.
He invented a bra that he named EVA. “What’s so special about a bra?” you might ask.
Well, this bra purports to detect potential changes in a breast that might indicate the existence of a rapidly growing foreign mass such as a tumor. And it does it in an absolutely ingenious way.
Julián’s bra contains 200 highly specialized biosensors, The Independent reported. When worn daily, those sensors collect a raft of data.
“EVA is a network of biosensors that covers the woman’s breast, takes the temperature data, analyzes them, and sends the information to an application or any computer,” the young inventor explained.
“As soon as there is a malformation in the breast or a tumor, there is an over-vascularization.”
In other words, tumors need more blood flow, and networks of veins appear. That leads to increased temperatures, a potential hallmark of cancer.
Julián had a good reason for couching his invention as a brassiere. For one thing, it’s a familiar item of clothing.
But he had another rationale, too.
“Why a bra? Because it allows us to have the breasts in the same position and it doesn’t have to be worn more than one hour a week,” he said.
Though it may take several years for the invention to go from prototype to production line, it shows a lot of promise. According to the Huffington Post, Julián won the grand prize at the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards finals.
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