Early diagnosis is key when it comes to breast cancer. In fact, if identified in time, this tumor has a 5-year survival rate of 99%. However, it is not always easy or comfortable for women to undergo regular clinical breast exams (CBE), often experienced with embarrassment or fear.
It's another story if these breast exams could be done quickly, painlessly and confidentially in easily accessible places like pharmacies or neighborhood clinics. This is what the new "feeling" robot developed by a team of researchers from the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom promises. I link the study here. Thanks to a combination of sensors and artificial intelligence, this device can provide results more accurate than those of a medical specialist, paving the way for a revolution in the prevention and early diagnosis of breast cancer.
The challenge of early diagnosis
Unfortunately, my family history was crossed by a painful episode involving breast cancer. This is why I cannot help but think of the thousands of lives that could be saved every year if all women had access to regular and accurate breast exams. Yet, despite campaigns to raise awareness of self-examination and advances in medical research, many women still avoid or postpone checks, often out of fear, shame or simple inconvenience.
It is a paradox that makes us reflect on the barriers, not only practical but also psychological and cultural, that stand between women and taking care of their health. Barriers that no technological progress alone can break down, but which require a deeper change. If needed, technologies like this can do their part. A breast exam done by a robot, in a familiar and discreet environment such as a pharmacy, could be perceived as less invasive and embarrassing than one done by a doctor in a cold doctor's office. It could encourage more women to have regular check-ups, increasing the chances of a timely diagnosis. A great big “why not?”.
Technology at the service of health
The “feeling” robot is not just a question of comfort and accessibility. It is also and above all a question of diagnostic accuracy. Thanks to its advanced sensors and artificial intelligence, an advanced device can detect anomalies and nodules even deep down, even where human touch might fail. A precision that could make the difference between an early diagnosis and a late one, between life and death.
Of course, no machine will ever be able to completely replace the experience and intuition of a doctor. But in a field like oncology, where the margins of error can be fatal, having an additional, objective and infallible tool can be an invaluable advantage. An advantage that technology, if well directed, can offer.
“Robotic” breast exams and the future of prevention
We have already observed the emergence of “Ubiquitous AI mini clinics” for mammography also in supermarkets. I can't imagine even “palpator” robots becoming increasingly common and integrated into our healthcare routine. One day doing breast exams will be as simple as measuring your blood pressure at the pharmacy: a quick, painless gesture, almost banal in everyday life, but which can save a life.
It will be a nice change, which will see prevention not just as a duty, but as an act of love towards oneself and others. A change that can start even from a small gesture, such as booking a test at the pharmacy.
Doubts and questions? However I have some. What does it mean to entrust our health to a machine? What are the limits and risks of this delegation? Can we ensure that the benefits of innovation are equitably distributed, reaching those who need it most?
These are questions that do not have simple or unambiguous answers. We will build them together if we want a future in which, perhaps, no woman will ever have to die from a cancer that could have been avoided.
