A hand-held imaging device designed for use at home appears effective in detecting breast cancer in its early stages, according to a University of Pennsylvania researcher who hopes the device might be available commercially to women in a year or two.
If so, the new device, tentatively called “iFind,” will make early detection of breast cancer more likely, said creator Britton Chance, professor emeritus of radiology, biophysics and biochemistry at the university’s medical school.
About the size of a deck of cards, iFind uses near-infrared light to measure how much blood is flowing in different locations in the breast, Chance said. The logic behind the device is that tumors require new blood vessels to grow, so those areas will have more blood.
iFind monitors differences in blood oxygen ratios in growing cancer tissue compared to normal tissues, he added. In this way, it detects “hypermetabolism” — the more rapid growth rate of malignant cells. When a certain threshold is passed, the device emits a light, tone or beep.
That’s an indication a woman needs to go to her doctor for further breast screening, he said.