The earlier a cancer is diagnosed, the more likely it is to be cured. But it is true that the cost and the constraint represented by screening examinations dissuade a large number of patients from taking them regularly!
Thanks to this new glove designed from a semi-electronic material based on carbon nanotubes, it will now be possible to precisely measure pressure variations.
Indeed, this new device would make up for the lack of experience or adequate training in palpation of many doctors. Professor Takao Someya from University of Tokyo explained to AFP that "The sensitive fingers of an experienced doctor are able to detect a small tumor, but what they feel cannot be measured" or translated into digital data that will then be shared. Thanks to this invention, it will therefore be possible in the future "to record and make tangible certain sensations that can only be felt by an experienced practitioner", he adds.
Unlike conventional pressure sensors that cannot be used on complex and moving surfaces, this 4.8cm side prototype can simultaneously assess the pressure of 144 points. After testing the sensor's performance with an artificial blood vessel, the researchers found that it was able to measure small changes in pressure. The originally transparent synthetic membrane resembles a sheet of gold metal once the transistors and circuits are assembled, the thickness of which varies from 3.4 to 8 micrometers (millionths of a meter)
Of course, the product still needs to gain in durability before it can finally be used in the medical field, but this is a big step forward for breast cancer screening.
In France, nearly 50,000 people are affected each year, and today, more than 3 out of 4 of these cancers are cured if they are treated in time.
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