Under the incredible guidance of my PI Canan Dagdeviren and fellow co-authors Wenya Du and Lin Zhang at the MIT Media Lab I’ve had the great pleasure of designing and fabricating the conformable ultrasound breast patch (cUSBr-Patch). This wearable is a first-of-its-kind ultrasound technology for breast tissue scanning and imaging that offers a noninvasive method for tracking real-time dynamic changes of soft tissue. Our recent work was published Science Advances a few days ago and I’ve been so happy seeing it’s early success.
Early breast cancer detection is key to increasing survival rates. However, at the global level, many barriers prevent people from gaining access to technologies capable of tumor detection (cost, accessibility, effectiveness). The Conformable Decoders Group has developed a novel product for breast cancer screening that we hope in the near future to be available to hospitals and homes around the globe. The sensor is composed of piezoelectric materials and the nature-inspired honeycomb-shaped patch is 3D printed. The design is also made to be easily scaled for people of different breast shapes and sizes. cUSBr-Patch would be the first of its kind to provide its patients with reliable, continuous monitoring in a conformable and wearable form factor from the comfort of their own home.
Ultrasound breast diagnosis and treatment is widely used, however, still faces distinct fundamental challenges, limiting its ubiquitous integration with wearable technologies. As a MechE researcher at the Media Lab it was really cool to contribute to cancer research and healthcare accessibility by creating devices for screening and detection. A device like this has the potential to be revolutionary because as it’s designed to be easily and sustainably manufactured so it can be affordable and accessible for people all around the world!
