With prototype 2 of the Early Warning Scan, the pre-clinical test took plae in December 2024,
at Fontys University of Applied Sciences.
This is how the Early Warning Scan will work
About coffee and oranges
Imagine this: you bought two bags of oranges at the market.
In one of the bags, between the oranges, is a packet of coffee. You don't know which bag it is in.
You can't see any difference on the outside of the bags.
You shake both bags of oranges back and forth.
You notice that the oranges in one bag move differently than those in the other.
If you study the movements carefully, you can deduce which bag contains the packet of coffee.
The idea of the Early Warning Scan is based on this principle.
A tumor has a similar effect in the breast. Of course much more subtle.
A tumor is always 5 to 15 times harder than the surrounding breast tissue.
As a result, it exerts a pulling force internally that causes a deformation on the outside of the breast.
With an advanced 3D scanner, the movements of the skin are measured accurately.
The measurements show whether the movement is normal or whether there is an unexpected deformation.
The principle of the 3D technique.
The scanner contains 52 small cameras and 48 small projectors.
The latter project a fine-meshed pattern on the chest.
This pattern is captured by the 52 cameras from different angles.
From these 52 photos, a very accurate 3D image is composed in the computer.
The movements that are observed are analyzed.
These measurement data are also used to analyze height differences in the skin.
The height differences are mapped very precisely.
If there are height differences visible in one breast that do not occur in the other breast, this is an indication for further research.
Computer picture with height information of the breasts in which suspicious spots are circled.
The red colour indicates tat no measurement is possible at those spots.
The breast scan takes place regularly, preferably annually.
The results of the successive scans are compared.
Very small deviations that were previously invisible may have become larger.
The scanner registers these differences that are not visible to the naked eye.
It is also measured whether the difference in volume between the two breasts has changed.
Even minuscule nipple deformities are observed.
These are all signals that something may be wrong.
In this way, the development of the breasts is monitored throughout life.
Abnormalities are found at a very early stage. Hence it is named Early Warning Scan.
De Early Warning Scan indicates deviations.
But are these abnormalities malignant?
That answer can only be given by further medical research.
Incidentally, that applies to all existing screening techniques.
Only with a tissue sample that has been analyzed in a laboratory can the diagnosis of breast cancer be definitively made.
The next step with the computer
When scan data from many women is available, a new world opens up: that of artificial intelligence.
The computer does not only analyze the data from one woman.
The individual data is compared with the data from all scanned women.
The more data is known about women, the more precisely the computer can assess the data.
It can be determined more and more precisely whether there is a risk of breast cancer. And how great that risk is.
By continuously collecting and comparing data, the Early Warning Scan is becoming increasingly intelligent.
As a result, the risk of breast cancer is being identified earlier and more accurately.
Who is involved in the development of the EWS? 2024
bekijk hier wie meewerken bij de EarlyWarningScan b.v.
Now is the stage at which the Early Warning Scan has been developed.
No one can prevent breast cancer...
...but early detection of breast cancer gives the best chance of recovery.
Recovery is not the only thing. Early intervention can also ensure that the treatment can be milder.
As a result, there are fewer lasting effects and the quality of life after treatment is higher.
Donate to help develop the scanning technology as quickly as possible.
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