Tumors are sometimes alluded to as time bombs, so it’s fitting that bomb-detection technology has made itself useful in the War on Cancer:
No single method is perfect but Micrima‘s microwave radar technology has the potential to revolutionise breast screening as it can offer a quick method of imaging which may help avoid unnecessary and expensive biopsies.
The company’s innovative technology was originally developed for detecting buried landmines. Mine detection and breast screening share similar characteristics in that they both involve the discovery of a discrete object whose electrical properties are different from the surrounding medium. At microwave frequencies, tumours contrast well with normal breast tissue.
Other pluses: no breast compression and its associated artefacts, and no radiation exposure.
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