A Radiation- Free Breast Cancer Detection Machine

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women worldwide. Yearly, about 450,000 women die from the consequences of breast cancer, Worldwide. Now, Indian scientist develops prototype of a radiation-free breast cancer detection machine.

Prof. Srirang Manohar, an Associate Professor, in the Faculty of Science and Technology’s Biomedical Photonic Imaging Group (BMPI) at the University of Twente in the Netherlands. Professor was born in Bangalore doing his early schooling and collage in St. Joseph Boys High school, followed by MES and B.R from R.V College of engineering.  He owns an M.S and PhD from Indian Institute of Science. He is one of the pioneers in the research and development of a sophisticated breast cancer diagnostic instrument, the TWENTE PHOTOACOUSTIC MAMMOSCOPE (PAM). Prof. Srirang Manohar, is also recipient of several awards, among which is the prestigious VENI Scholarship by the Dutch organization for Scientific Research.

A team of researchers led by Associate Professor Srirang Manohar- Biomedical Imaging Group at the University of Twente, in the Netherlands have developed a prototype of a new imaging tool that may one day help to detect breast cancer early, when it is most treatable. Earlier, imaging modalities were not optimal in discriminating benign (non-cancerous) from malignant (cancerous) tissue. Owing to less-optimal imaging detection techniques, the reason why cancer were not not detected at the early stage.

Whereas, the new device called a Photoacoustic Mammoscope (PAM) which would represent an entirely new way of imaging the breast and detecting cancer, instead of X-rays, which are used in traditional mammography. The Photoacoustic Mammoscope uses a combination of infrared light and ultrasound to create a 3-D image of the breast. This device was first tested in 2007, and has been upgraded with several new features since then.

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