A Cancer Report by the World Health Organization (WHO) states that breast cancer is one of the most common diseases that plague Indian women. In what is being hailed as a major breakthrough, a Kerala scientist, Dr A Seema and her team have come up with a brassiere that can detect cancer in the wearer.

Seema and her six-member teamwork at the Centre for Materials for Electronics Technology (C-MET) in Thrissur. The bra, reports Indiatimes, has embedded sensors that measure the skin temperature and also creates thermal imaging to detect cancerous cells.’

For her work, Seema was awarded the highest civilian honour for Indian women – Nari Shakti Puraskar – by President Ram Nath Kovind.

“The idea took root when the director of Malabar Cancer Centre (Kannur) visited us sometime in 2014. They’ve been our medical partners in this project,” she told The Better India.

“They broached the idea of working out ways of breast cancer detection on a community scale. Mammogram was the golden standard but the provision wasn’t available in even Primary Health Centres across the country. What they had in mind was a portable device that could be implemented at a community level. This propelled us to conceptualise a wearable device for detection through thermal imaging,” she added.

The scientist also stated that the bra is completely safe and doesn’t emit any radiations, adding that women as young as 15 or 20 years of age can use the wearable device. According to The Better India, the bra is expected to cost anywhere between ₹400 and ₹500.

(Picture credits: C-Met)