Wearable Ultrasound that could early detect Breast Cancer

Wearable ultrasound that could detect breast cancer developed by MIT

More than a quarter of a million American women are diagnosed with breast cancer every year according to the Centers for Disease Control. Survival rates however improve dramatically with early detection.

A new, wearable ultrasound device that sits in the cups of bras could be a lifesaver for people considered high-risk. The device, developed by MIT, picks up early changes in breast tissue. The lead researcher who helped develop the device, MIT associate professor Canan Dağdeviren, went live on CBS News to talk about how it works.

Canan Dagdeviren, head of the Conformable Decoders research group, and Dava Newman, Apollo Professor of Astronautics at MIT, have received an Innovator Grant from the MIT HEALS Seed Grant program for their project, "Textile-based personalized ultrasound wearable device for continuous at-home breast monitoring."

“More than a quarter of a million American women are diagnosed with breast cancer every year.”

This project proposes a novel textile-integrated, wearable 3D ultrasound imaging system designed for continuous, at-home breast health monitoring. It addresses major technical challenges in wearable biomedical imaging, including power-efficient transducer design, large-area 3D imaging across curvilinear body surfaces, and seamless integration into body-conformal textile garments. 

The system combines high-resolution, sparsely distributed ultrasound transducers with programmable textile structures engineered through advanced digital fabrication methods such as 3D knitting and digital embroidery. These conformable garments will be tailored to individual breast anatomy to ensure consistent skin contact and pressure distribution, enabling accurate and comfortable long-term monitoring. 

The device will incorporate a novel miniaturized data acquisition system and support AI-driven image analysis and anomaly detection, reducing reliance on skilled operators and enabling frequent, radiation-free screening in home settings. Research tasks include material characterization, transducer fabrication, textile design, image processing, and validation through clinical studies in collaboration with Massachusetts General Hospital. This platform aims to improve early detection of breast anomalies, especially in patients with dense breast tissue where traditional mammography is less effective. Beyond breast imaging, the technology has potential applications for monitoring other organs, such as the bladder, uterus, ovaries, and fetal development, supporting broader adoption in personalized and preventive healthcare.

This year, the program received 81 seed grant proposals, from which two Breakthrough and 17 Innovator projects were selected for funding. Collectively, the funded proposals represent 12 different departments and units across MIT, including the Media Lab.

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MIT Media Labs is an interdisciplinary research lab working to invent the future of health, art, environment, machine learning, politics, space, networks and cognition.

Canan Dagdeviren, head of the Conformable Decoders research group, and Dava Newman, Apollo Professor of Astronautics at MIT.

Image credits: MIT Media Labs