How to recognize breast cancer at home

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

The main problem with a disease like breast cancer is early diagnosis. A young inventor from Spain, 25-year-old Hoodit Hiro Benet decided to create a simple device that would save thousands of women around the world. The Blue Box helps identify breast cancer at home using urine biochemistry. In 2020, Hoodit won the prestigious James Dyson Awards for young scientists, and perhaps soon her important development will appear on store shelves around the world.

To invent the Blue Box, Hoodit Hiro Benet pushed her own mother's diagnosis. “This type of cancer can be cured in most cases, but the problem of early diagnosis remains. My mother recovered, but for me it became a reminder that cancer can enter every home,” the girl told reporters.

She began developing her invention in 2017, when she was finishing her studies in biomedicine and engineering at the University of Barcelona. “The medicine of the future will not focus on treatment, but on prevention: it saves more lives and it will be much cheaper,” says Khudit.

With this premise, she began work. The young inventor was inspired by the knowledge that dogs can detect cancer by smell. So she came up with a small box, which she called the Blue Box. For diagnosis, only a urine sample is needed. Blue Box analyzes it, and sends the results to the cloud, where artificial intelligence identifies certain types of metabolites that serve as a marker of cancer. The diagnostic results are sent to the application installed on the user's smartphone.

“I didn’t expect my invention to cause such a stir, but I still receive letters of thanks, and this is the clearest proof that this invention is necessary. Unfortunately, one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer throughout their lives, and we all know someone who has had breast cancer, so we certainly need the best diagnostic solution,”says the James Dyson Awards winner.

For her invention, Hoodit Hiro Benet received a cash prize from the inventor James Dyson, who has been looking for the best projects around the world for several years. This year, applications are again open for students and young scientists, for all those who want to make our world a better place.

We hope that the Blue Box will soon be able to appear in any home, and will help thousands of women recognize cancer at an early stage. According to Benet, the device will have to wait three to five years for the device to enter the market.

“Women's health is a great thing that many people forget, but soon this attitude will end,” says the young inventor from Spain.

This is what Blue Box aims to do: to promote proactive prevention that engages all women who can get a reliable diagnosis without pain, radiation or the need to leave the house.