As many as one in eight women will develop breast cancer during their lifetime.
According to Cancer Research UK, nearly all women diagnosed with breast cancer will survive for five years or more if diagnosed at the earliest stage. Consequently, there is an urgent need for ongoing innovation in the field of breast cancer, particularly with regard to early identification of the disease.
Since routine breast screening in the UK is only offered to women over the age of 50, younger women are left to fend for themselves with limited resources for routinely monitoring their breast health. Younger women are advised to perform regular breast self-checks to spot any unusual lumps or changes in breast tissue, however for many, this is far from straightforward.
Women have reported struggles with conducting self-checks, with many saying they lack confidence in their ability to self-check and do a lot of ‘guesswork’, while many are simply not regularly self-checking their breasts at all.
Clearly, ways of monitoring breast health using a consistent and effective approach are needed.
One company, which Forresters is fortunate enough to be working with, is forging ahead to fill this void. Dotplot, co-founded in 2022 by Innovation Design Engineering graduates Debra Babalola and Shefali Bohra, provides an innovative solution to help women feel more confident and empowered about their breast health.
A personal experience involving the discovery of an unusual breast discomfort brought home to co-founders Shefali and Debra the alarming paucity of at-home solutions for monitoring breast health. The result was the Dotplot technology, an at-home breast health monitoring tool which facilitates early detection of breast cancer and encourages women to stick to a regular breast self-check routine.
The company’s pioneering patent-pending technology comprises a handheld sensor device that detects changes in breast tissue density over time and flags any abnormalities. Paired with a user-friendly mobile app, the onboarding process requires the user to input various details and build a personalised map of their torso to create a baseline reading. Once onboarding is complete, the app prompts the user to self-check every month then guides them through the process by showing which areas of the breast tissue need to be scanned, ensuring that all relevant areas are checked.
Every month, readings are compared to the previous month’s data so that any significant changes are flagged up. Developed using machine learning, the technology distinguishes itself from current off-the-shelf products by providing visual guidance and real-time feedback of areas scanned during a breast self-check. The sophisticated technology further allows women to conduct guided self-checks using their fingers so that they can self-register changes over time. This unique way of ‘notetaking’ means that findings can be registered in a cumulative fashion providing the user with highly insightful information.
One of Dotplot’s missions is to understand how data obtained using its innovative technology can be harnessed most effectively to support the work of GPs and other healthcare professionals in the UK and help save lives. The company also hopes to launch Dotplot for use by consumers before long.
Given Dotplot’s success since its inception two years ago – it won the UK James Dyson Award in 2022 and was named as New Startup of the Year by Cancer Research UK earlier this year – it comes as no surprise that the company’s IP portfolio is growing at a steady rate. Forresters has recently helped Dotplot file a UK patent application and looks forward to supporting the company’s growing IP portfolio as it continues to revolutionise breast health awareness in the Femtech space.
