Breast Cancer Pre-Screening
What is the difference between Thermaiscan Breast Cancer Pre-screening to other breast cancer screening methods?
Thermaiscan Breast Cancer Pre-screening works with temperature data, which shows something is happening inside the body. This is also referred to as the metabolism, and is visually shown on thermal images which Thermaiscan AI analyzes on a pixel level.
The approach differs from ultrasound and mammography. It is more accessible and affordable than these methods, since it can be performed using a commercially available smartphone with thermal sensor. Additionally, using the solution does not require a specialist, which both mammography and ultrasound does. Ultrasound uses soundwaves to give a specialist images of breast tissue. Mammography uses x-rays to show the breast tissue. Both are good solutions. Thermaiscan should be regarded as a complementary tool to standard screening methods.
Is Thermaiscan Breast Cancer Pre-screening a replacement for mammography?
No, Thermaiscan Breast Cancer Pre-screening is not intended to replace mammography or other established breast cancer screening methods. Rather, it is meant to complement these methods by providing an additional screening option based on the metabolism that may be more accessible and affordable for certain populations and in certain geographical areas.
Why is early detection of breast cancer so important?
Early detection of breast cancer increases the chances of successful treatment and improves survival rates. Breast cancer that is detected at an early stage is often easier to treat, and may require less invasive procedures than cancer that has had time to spread to other parts of the body.
Who can benefit from Thermaiscan Breast Cancer Pre-screening?
Thermaiscan Breast Cancer Pre-screening is useful for those patients who do not have from what they know and feel any symptoms. This is the main value of the product and the predictive medicine part of our innovation. So the pre-screening can help the big group of symptom free patients to find early signs of chest abnormalities which can be breast cancer development, but it is also beneficial for women who:
– have symptoms since it can act as a healthy and smooth monitoring tool
– are at increased risk for breast cancer, including those with a family history of the disease
– for those with dense breast tissue.
The technology is also very useful for women who have limited access to traditional breast cancer screening methods, such as mammography.
What are the potential benefits of using Thermaiscan Breast Cancer Pre-screening?
The potential benefits of using Thermaiscan Breast Cancer Pre-screening includes early detection of breast abnormalities which can be breast cancer, which can lead to better treatment outcomes and increased survival rates.
Main target group is symptom free patients but those with symptoms can easier monitor than before. The solution is for all ages and body types, example those patients that has dense breast tissue or little breast tissue, it is also more accessible and affordable than other screening methods, which could help boost screening rates and reduce health disparities.
How does Thermaiscan Breast Cancer Pre-screening work?
First a patient visits the local primary care unit and cools down for 10 minutes (only upper body).
When the optimal conditions of patient and environment is meet the nurse takes the smartphone and starts Thermaiscan app for breast cancer pre-screening and captures 3 images (frontal, left and right) according to our protocol (distance and angles).
The thermal sensor in the smartphone collects temperature data from the breast tissue, and the app uses AI algorithms in the cloud to analyze the data and perform a risk-assessment. The technology is designed for primary care units and it is easy to use and does not require any special training or equipment but it is a must that the user is a nurse and performs pre-screening in the correct environment according to protocol to get the best possible understanding of the metabolic activity in the chest.
But we have learnt along our journey that Thermaiscan Pre-Screening also gives good information to specialist in mammogram units so there is a string request to also be used by specialists as one additional screening solution in their tool-box.
What is Thermaiscan Breast Cancer Pre-screening?
Thermaiscan Breast Cancer Pre-screening is a groundbreaking pocked-sized AI tool for healthcare providers. Its intention is to be a complementary tool within breast screening and to be in primary care level where nurses can simply perform screening on patients’ chest in their first contact with healthcare. It is a non-invasive screening method that uses thermal sensors in smartphones to capture metabolic data of the chest and Thermaiscan AI is analyzing the smartphone sized thermal image on pixel level and can find abnormal temperatures on cellular level and patterns in breast tissue in early stages that can be ongoing breast cancer development.
If a patient gets risk as a result in the AI risk-assessment, then the patient shall be referred to specialist to perform mammogram etc. Thermaiscans goal is to prove that our solution is efficient and don’t congestion mammogram units and have low false negative results which means that in the prediction the AI gave healthy as result but in fact patient is not healthy. All screening solutions have false negatives, even mammogram and ultra sound.
Patients who are symptom free can be proactive in a new way and those with known symptoms/risk profiles can monitor easier than before and understand their chest health.
How accurate is Thermaiscan Breast Cancer Pre-screening?
The accuracy of Thermaiscan Breast Cancer Pre-screening is still being evaluated in clinical validations. We have recently conducted a clinical validation that started 1st Dec 2022 and ended 31st May 2023. We will publish results in a journal upcoming months.
Synergies
I’m a specialist in breast cancer. How can I participate in clinical validation / trials for Thermaiscan Breast Cancer Pre-screening?
If you represent a mammography or a primary care unit you can contact us via website form and share more about your thoughts and the synergies you see. If possible we can include you and your unit in coming clinical validations / trials and co-write medical papers. We are happy to create new relations that can potentially be partnership that makes great impact.
Technology
How can I learn more about Thermaiscan Breast Cancer Pre-screening?
You can learn more about Thermaiscan Breast Cancer Pre-screening by following our social media and visiting the official website at www.thermaiscan.com. You can also contact us via contact page and we promise to get back as soon as we can.
How can AI and thermal sensors in smartphones help address breast cancer challenges?
AI and thermal sensors in smartphones have the potential to make breast cancer screening more accessible, affordable and accurate, by implementing a new way of working with metabolic data.
It is non-toxic and suitable for all ages and bodies. By using smartphones to collect thermal data of the chest and AI algorithms to analyze the data on pixel level it can help to detect early signs of breast changes which can be breast cancer development. This could help increase screening rates in urban and rural areas and reduce disparities in access to screening, as well as improve accuracy by reducing the risk of false positives or negatives. Ultrasound and mammography is using other technologies, which have their own possibilities and limitations. By adding Thermaiscan Breast Cancer Pre-Screening to the toolbox we can enhance healthcare and help patients even more.
Are there any limitations related to using Thermaiscan Breast Cancer Pre-screening?
Like any screening method, Thermaiscan Breast Cancer Pre-screening has limitations. It may not be able to detect all cases of potential breast cancer development, and it may also detect non-cancerous abnormalities that require further testing. Also it depends on how deep inside the body tissue the abnormal activity is happening.
To clarify, Thermaiscan Breast Cancer Pre-screening is not for diagnosis but rather be used as a complementary breast screening tool to existing ones. It cannot be used as a diagnostic tool since you will never know what the thermal sensors and AI finds. Only biopsy in breast screenings is the diagnostic solution, the rest of the methods are considered as screening methods (Mammography, Ultrasound, MRI etc). Just like the other screening methods there are environments that need to be met, so we do not think it will be possible to screen patients outside in hot or cold environments, so it has to be an environment which primary care units can provide with.
How does the AI component of Thermaiscan Breast Cancer Pre-screening work?
The AI component of Thermaiscan Breast Cancer Pre-screening is computer vision using the neural network analyzing temperature data on pixel level collected by the thermal sensors in a smartphone. It detects abnormal temperatures, vascularization and patterns that may be indicative of breast cancer which is not visible for the eye and can be even before a symptom free patient feels that something is going on in the chest. The algorithm has been trained on large data sets of thermal images of the chest showing the metabolism and temperatures, mammography and biopsy results.
Is Thermaiscan Breast Cancer Pre-screening safe to use?
Thermaiscan Breast Cancer Pre-screening is using thermal technology and is non-invasive and does not use for example ionizing radiation as mammography does, so it is considered safe for repeated use. Thermal sensors absorb all heat and energy in the field of sensors and give as an output a thermal image. To perform thermal pre-screening is not harming in anyway for the human body.
