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Moris Atwine, from Uganda, has conceived and developed BreastIT (Smart Glove + Mobile Application) to screen breast cancer. Inspired by scanners at supermarket checkout points, the smart glove is a scanning device that picks up lumps in the breast through ultrasound waves (ultrasound imaging of the inner breast). In other words, the glove has sensors that help search for suspicious lumps in breast tissues.
The resulting images are then sent to the mobile application where scanned images are processed, and a diagnosis is provided. Since the scanned images are saved in the application, they can eventually be sent to the nearest medical professional or radiologist listed in the application for a closer interpretation/analysis of the diagnosis.
Source: Designindaba.com
BreastIT is an affordable and painless method to diagnose breast cancer. It has the advantage of being portable and flexible, which makes it a good method for screening cancers, especially in rural areas where, in Africa, women barely have a chance to have a mammogram. BreastIT is one of the best applications of telemedicine in Africa, thus an invention that should be supported financially.
An invention or an innovation is often the response given to a problem which has been identified. One of Moris Atwine’s relatives died of breast cancer, which prompted him to find a flexible, low cost and efficient solution. He graduated from the reputable Makerere University where he obtained a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science & Computer Programming in 2015.