ThermoBreast

To have a more in-depth understanding on what the project really is about and why it is so important we succeeded to have an interview with An.

WHAT IS IT ABOUT

An: “Based on a successful proof-of-concept study in Israel, experience of renowned clinical partners and AI experts this project has the capacity to advance this breakthrough technology, patented by ThermoMind, to significantly contribute to the objectives of the EU’s Cancer Mission and Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan. In this project, the consortium will be conducting a diagnostic, multicentre, international and prospective clinical study to train for and validate the predictive power of a new AI-based thermography . Our team will focus in close collaboration cancer patient association to research explainability and trustworthiness of this innovative screening approach, enhancing the quality of the user experience during screening and follow up of both patients and clinicians. We will study and develop methods to assess the ethical aspect (privacy, autonomy, transparency, bias, …) of this AI driven solution and their social impact.”

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT

An: “Well targeted screening is a proven way to prevent deaths by cancers by early diagnoses. Current techniques come with different limitations, like being uncomfortable and painful for women, the need for body contact, radiation of a mammography, limitation in screening options for breast with dense breast tissue There is thus a well-defined need both from a user and clinical perspective, this is not a tech push project. The beauty of this project is that it is bringing state-of-the-art technology together-Thermal camera’s and AI modelling to try to create a game changing solution, that can improve our potential to realize the overall goal of the EU`s Mission on Cancer is to save 2.7 million lives by 2030.  Considering that female breast cancer represents the fifth leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide, early diagnosis through accurate screening on women and continuous monitoring of cancer patients with innovative approaches.

To enable this technology to attain its potential in future in clinical practice, it is important to keep evaluating and designing with end user iteratively throughout the innovation process. A human centered design approach is therefore needed, looking at the different actors, coming in contact with this service. Learning about local and cultural differences, and translating them into requirements for the design of the technology and the design of the process when implementing. In this way it is in line with my research groups goal, imec-SMIT’s: making technologies society proof . 

This project with its focus on screening and improved diagnostics, is complementary to work I do in the Horizon Europe MyPath project (mypath-cancercare.eu) in collaboration with the VUB ‘End- of-Life’ research team, led by Prof Luc Deliens in close collaboration with UZBrussel. In this project, we focus on digitalization of cancer pathways in the hospital with a focus on patient-centered care. So how to improve the process after diagnosis with cancer, to support the best clinical tumor care in balance with ‘the patient as a whole’, the changing psychological and social needs for example. In our research, we focus there on a participatory design approach to lower the implementation gap when moving from a proof of concept into clinical practice.”

AIM

ThermoBreast aims to drastically improve the prevention, diagnosis and monitoring of breast cancer while reducing the burden on women and female patients and their families, health care professionals and others who are directly or indirectly affected by breast cancer.

METHODOLOGY

ThermoBreast proposes a new solution for accurate, harmless and non-contact screening, equally applicable for all age groups and breast densities and capable of detecting pre-cancerous states. This risk-free screening technology, recently patented by the project coordinator ThermoMind LTD, can detect vascular anomalies and asymmetry, caused by cancerous growth.

It combines innovative screening through multiple sensitive infrared sensors with advanced AI analysis of temporal dynamic thermal patterns. Through its patient-centred integrated diagnostics approach, this project converges intelligent computer vision, blood vessel extraction and tissue analysis with advanced information technology to deliver a medical class 1 device that will be validated in an international multicentre clinical study. To enhance stakeholder participation, ThermoBreast involves end users, SSH experts and a patient organisation in the co-creation of the new screening solution and assesses its health and socio-economic benefits as well as its cost effectiveness.

IMPACT

The impact will be 3-fold:

1.Societal

ThermoBreast aims at helping citizens, cancer patients, survivors and care workers bundle knowledge about breast cancer, and they may benefit from sharing expertise and exchanging data through ThermoBreast’s co-creation of a new approach and breakthrough technology in early-stage breast cancer screening.

2.Economical

Expenditures on medical devices are substantial, with expected growth, as breast cancer is expected to rise 8% annually worldwide. Consequently, ThermoBreast aims to stimulate the growth of advanced technology in breast cancer detection and create more jobs in medical care, technology, engineering and production of thermal sensing devices.

3.Project wide for the future

Healthy citizens and cancer patients will benefit from faster, earlier, more precise, personalised, accessible and affordable screening and early detection of cancer.

Within two years after the end of this project, we envisage ThermoBreast becoming an approved medical class 1 device that already will be in use in at least 100 hospitals in Europe and become a care standard within 10 years. ThermoBreast also envisages to view thyroid cancer (ThermoThyroid) and skin cancer (ThermoSkin).