Box that detects breast cancer at home wins international James Dyson Award 2020

A device that detects breast cancer by analysing a patient’s urine from the comfort of their own home has been awarded the international James Dyson Award 2020.

Judit Giró Benet, a 23-year old student from Tarragona, Spain, was inspired to develop an at-home, biomedical testing device by her own mother’s breast cancer diagnosis.

While the majority of current breast cases are detected by patients reporting unusual lumps or other symptoms to their GP or detection during a mammogram or breast ultrasound, Ms Giró Benet’s device performs chemical analysis on a urine sample.

Non-invasive detection method

The Blue Box device sends its results to the cloud, where an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm reacts to specific metabolites (molecules) within the sample that are likely to indicate the presence of cancer. Its diagnosis is then relayed to an app on the user’s smartphone.

The pain-free, non-invasive method could encourage greater numbers of women to test themselves, removing the need to travel to a GP surgery or hospital.

Ms Giró Benet started developing the prototype during her biomedical engineering degree at the Universitat de Barcelona in 2017, before moving to the US and starting work on a second version while studying at the University of California Irvine (UCI).

At-home alternative

The device has a classification rate of higher than 95 per cent thanks to its powerful detection algorithm, she claimed.

The student plans to use the £30,000 prize money to develop the device, filing patents and working towards human studies and clinical trials and her ultimate goal of giving every woman in the world the chance to prevent a deadly late-stage breast cancer.

“The Blue Box has the potential to make cancer screening a part of daily life. It can help to change the way society fights breast cancer to ensure that more women can avoid an advanced diagnosis,” Ms Giró Benet said.

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“The day that James Dyson told me that I had won the International prize was a real turning point as the prize money will allow me to patent more extensively and expedite research and software development I am doing at UCI. But, most of all, hearing that he believes in my idea has given me the confidence I need at this vital point.”

The James Dyson Award also awarded £30,000 to AuREUS System Technology, a material made from waste crops that coverts UV light into renewable energy, the first recipient of its new Sustainability prize.

The Tyre Collective, a device designed to be attached to a vehicle wheel to collect particles as they are released, which was crowned winner of the UK branch of the awards in September, came runner-up in the international competition.

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