Breast cancer is a constant threat: the pixy in Italy there are approximately 53.000 women affected by this disease. Similar numbers also in France, with 54.000 diagnoses (and 12.000 deaths) per year. And consider that awareness and prevention campaigns have been active for years: we also owe it to them that there are no worse figures. It's not as easy as it seems, however: aside from self-examination, serious screening involves a mammogram, which can be annoying for some.
What if you could screen for breast cancer simply through a garment? I don't know, just a bra? That's what he must have thought Julian Ríos Cantú, the 22-year-old inventor who founded Eva Tech. It all begins in 2016, when Julián's mother receives the diagnosis of this terrible disease. Convinced that there is a way to avoid invasive and painful treatments, the young Mexican decides to work to develop an innovative solution that makes breast cancer screening easier and more accessible, especially in areas where access to treatment is limited and mammograms are too expensive. With the help of four friends, he creates a start-up and works on an algorithm capable of detecting the first signs of cancer: it is the beginning of an incredible and thought-provoking story.
A bra that detects cancer?
The Higia team (this is the first name of the startup) places 200 thermal sensors inside a bra. Sensors capable of detecting changes in skin temperature and blood circulation in the breast tissue, changes that are invisible to the naked eye and even with normal self-examination. This detection system can see them, and can do so in good time, as long as it is worn for 60 to 90 minutes a week (a more than reasonable amount of time). The integrated sensors send data to a dedicated app via Bluetooth: if the algorithm detects any suspicion, you receive an alarm directly on your smartphone, to contact a doctor or oncologist as soon as possible. A truly extraordinary exploit, which collects prizes and sells 5000 copies. It's 2018, and the startup has 15 engineers and developers in 5 countries.
In 2018 Julian he is 19 years old. Receives Mexico's Presidential Medal for Scientific and Technological Achievements and EO's Global Student Entrepreneur Award. He is a visiting lecturer at the National Medical Society of the United States and the Harvard-MIT Innovation Laboratories. He becomes the second Latin American entrepreneur to receive the prestigious Thiel Fellowship.
Diagnostic cabins
The second step is the perfecting of this technology, and here there is a dead end: the issue of the bra it stops, probably the costs of the device are high for a widespread distribution. Or more likely, the risk of proposing infrared thermography as an alternative to mammography is pretty big, given that even the US FDA specify the thing. In place of the bra, after a year and a half, another technology appears: that of special diagnostic booths capable of detecting anomalies (with the same sensor system) in just ten minutes, at an equivalent cost of less than 20 euros (400 pesos). The Eva Center booths (while the company takes on its definitive name), are placed in many Mexican shopping centers, "with the aim", says Ríos Cantú, "of making screening more accessible and quicker". It's 2020, the young entrepreneur is 20 years old and still running.
Eva Center becomes Eva
Another sudden transformation: in August 2021, with a post on the official Facebook page Eva Center announces a new stage. After having helped 10.000 Mexican women (only to me do they seem few compared to the declared potential?), Eva changes destination: now she will develop super-fast data collection methods, in the cloud, to assist more and more people and in less time. Virtually no trace of thermography. Julian he is now 22 years old and has a “medical technology solutions” company. On the official blog, medical centers are indicated, self-examinations and mammograms are recommended. And I ask myself some questions.
Nothing under the bra?
It would be ungenerous to say so. The wariness of exploits in medical technology is all about us (remember the Theranos case, True? This story vaguely resonated with me), but anything could be. It may be that the enthusiasm of a boy who pushed his heart beyond the obstacle, experiencing the drama of breast cancer in his family, was measured against reality. However, the startup has raised a lot of funds since its creation, and ultimately the "ideological" objective remains, and it is noble: saving human lives.
Accelerating, digitizing and improving diagnostics is still a big step forward, right? Today Eva aims to become the world's leading provider of digital medical solutions, no joke: and Julian probably deserves all the awards she has achieved. The only question remains is whether the original financiers, as well as the people involved in the surveys of the "smart cabins", lent their time, their money and their hopes for this project, or for a dream that then changed clothes. More or less like changing a bra. This must make three categories of people reflect:
- Those who herald solutions as if they were panaceas;
- Those who see the war against breast cancer as a war whose outcome depends only on how much time and money is devoted to it;
- Those who consider every failed remedy "a marvel censored by large pharmaceutical companies".
Meanwhile, repetita iuvant
Waiting for this o other technologies give a decisive turning point to breast cancer diagnostics, the same old advice remains. To protect yourself, it is important to know that there is a higher risk age for women, but it is not the only age at risk. The screening campaign is usually aimed at women aged 50 to 74 or those who have cases in the family, but younger women can also develop breast cancer, so it is important to pay attention to the symptoms and any changes in the appearance of the breast.
However, self-examination allows you to identify any anomalies or changes in the structure of the breast. Do it at least once a month, with your fingers and not with the entire palm of your hand, raising the other arm in the air. If you have any doubts, obviously ask your doctor. self-examination correctly, you must use your fingers and not the palm of your hand, and raise it in the air with the opposite arm. It is recommended to perform this gesture once a month, on soapy skin to make palpation easier. If in doubt, it is always best to consult your doctor as soon as possible. For more information, I link you this special of the Veronesi Foundation, which has been active for 20 years in research and information against breast cancer.
