The goal of the smart bra is to speed up the diagnosis of breast cancer.

According to the creator, a smart bra developed in Nigeria can identify breast cancer early, potentially saving African women extensive treks to seek screening services.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, breast cancer is the most frequent type of cancer among women, with 129,000 new cases expected in 2020. According to the World Health Organization, only around half of women in this country live for more than five years after being diagnosed, with late diagnosis being a major cause (WHO). Kemisola Bolarinwa, a robotics engineer who designed the smart bra, expects it can help overcome barriers to early detection of the disease.

Bolarinwa, the creator of Nextwear Technology, a wearable technology firm situated in Abuja, Nigeria, says, "My loving mother died of breast cancer in 2017 at the University College Hospital in Ibadan, Nigeria, because it was diagnosed late."

"I observed ladies of all ages, including teenagers, writhing in pain from breast cancer in her hospital ward. That's when I realised I needed to do something to help combat the cancer."

Bolarinwa tells SciDev.Net that women could safely use the device to check their breasts on a regular basis from the comfort of their own homes.

"If they can discover cancer early on, they will be safe, and many will not have to die," she explains.

After a four-year development process, the inventor plans to launch the device in July of this year. The engineer and her team began working on the concept in 2018 and had a working prototype by February 2020. She claims that the company has developed ten more since then.

"We did a local trial and got about 70% accuracy," says the researcher. "We're aiming for 95-97 percent accuracy," Bolarinwa explains.

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She explains that the smart bra was created with ultrasound technology, and that the charged, battery-operated gadget comes with mobile and web apps that can show where a tumour is on the breasts.

"The outcome will reveal whether the tumour is benign [harmless] or malignant [destructive]," Bolarinwa continues. "For the outcome to appear, the smart bra must be worn on the breasts for a maximum of 30 minutes." The software also features a feature that allows you to send the results to a doctor."

Bolarinwa says her hope is to see more African women spared from breast cancer, and that her invention might alleviate the stress of women having to travel vast distances for cancer screenings.

She claims that Nigeria's Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, and Communications Commission have all given their clearance to the idea.

To help manage instability in Nigeria, the project is sponsored with revenue from the company's first-ever product, a global positioning system (GPS) necklace device that warns wearers' families and friends of their movements.

According to statistics issued by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in December 2020, breast cancer has surpassed lung cancer as the most commonly diagnosed cancer worldwide.

According to a WHO assessment on breast cancer outcomes in the region, diagnosis of the disease at an advanced stage dramatically diminishes the chances of curative therapy, although many African women endure delays in becoming diagnosed.

Professor of radiation treatment and cancer at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital in Nigeria, Francis Durosinmi-Etti, believes that technologies like the smart bra can help change this.

He told SciDev.Net, "The notion is good." "In 2015, I'm sure I heard about a smart bra, but it wasn't for cancer diagnosis." The ultrasound technology used in the smart bra appears to be safe because it emits no radiation."