Could this new heat-sensing bra detect breast cancer?

A new bra claims to be able to detect breast cancer in the early stages thanks to clever heat sensors embedded in the cups. 

The American invention from First Warning Systems claims that by wearing the bra, the sensors can detect subtle changes in heat that may indicate breast tissue abnormalities.

The bra is specifically targeting women under 40, where mammogram testing can be ineffective, and is being offered as a cheaper alternative. 

Women wear the bra for 12 hours, allowing the sensors to get acclimatised to the individual body's thermal fingerprint. 

The readings are then fed into the company's algorithm which looks for the smallest of temperature variations to tell if there are any suspected abnormalities. 


The idea of using temperature to find abnormal cells comes from the premise that tumours need nutrients to grow, and as they siphon these off from the blood the metabolic process generates heat.

It is this tiny heat anomaly that might indicate whether there was a tumour growing. 

The technology is in it's infancy, and is still not 100% accurate – with there being some cases of women who have abnormal bra readings not having anything show up on a mammogram, and visa versa, women with breast cancer have had normal verdicts from the bra. 

Dr. Therese Bevers, medical director of the cancer prevention centre at the University of Texas explained, "It's not perfect, and needs to undergo much more rigorous testing to understand what role temperature readings can play in cancer screening."

There is also the issue raised that if the bra can detect cancer at a very early stage, it may not alter the course of treatment as before the tumour gets to a certain size, surgery isn't an option. 

Medical opinion also says that chemotherapy and radiation wouldn't be an option until the cancer has a certain presence due to the nasty side effects. 

Whilst the effectiveness of mammograms have been brought into question for early detection, particularly in women under 40, Bevers added, "We really need to have more solid data before we start adding on tests, especially when we have tests [like the mammogram, MRI and ultrasound]."