BreastIT is a cheap and portable solution to breast cancer detection in Uganda.
Three Makere University IT graduates, Moris Atwine, Kabwama Alvin Leonard and Lwangwa Mwesigwa David designed the smart product, which is made up of a mobile app and a glove. In this interview, we speak to Atwine about his team’s award-winning innovation.
After Atwine lost a relative to breast cancer, the graduates felt the need to develop an app that would help increase the number of breast cancer survivors through early detection.
Atwine explains that the glove, which was inspired by scanners at supermarket checkout points, is a scanning device that picks up lumps in the breast through ultrasound waves.
It connects to a cellphone via Bluetooth and sends an image of the scan through to the installed app. At this point, the image is processed and a diagnosis is provided. The results can be saved to the phone and shared with the nearest medical professional or radiologist, who are listed in the app.