A groundbreaking device with the potential to conduct Clinical Breast Examinations (CBE) has been unveiled, marking a significant milestone in the field of breast health. Developed by a team at the University of Bristol and housed at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory, this innovative manipulator possesses the ability to apply precise forces, akin to those employed by human examiners. It also boasts sensor technology that can detect abnormalities at greater depths than previous methods.
This development could transform how women monitor their breast health, offering them access to safe, electronic CBEs that can be conveniently located in places like pharmacies and health centers, providing accurate results.
In the realm of tactile medical examinations, precision, repeatability, and accuracy are of paramount importance to ensure favorable patient outcomes. Various automatic and semi-automatic devices have been proposed to aid in optimizing this process, particularly for challenging scenarios such as minimally invasive surgery.
The research team, under the guidance of Dr. Antonia Tzemanaki from Bristol Robotics Laboratory, comprised a diverse group of postgraduate and undergraduate researchers. Lead author George Jenkinson explained the significance of this innovation, stating, “There has been ongoing debate about the efficacy of Clinical Breast Examinations (CBE) for overall health outcomes. It is generally accepted that when performed correctly, CBE can be a highly useful and low-risk diagnostic technique.”
He continued, “In the past, there have been attempts to enhance the performance of healthcare professionals by employing robots or electronic devices for palpating breast tissue. However, the recent decade’s technological advancements in manipulation and sensor technology have positioned us favorably to achieve this goal.”
The first critical question they sought to address was whether a specialized manipulator possessed the dexterity required to palpate a realistic breast size and shape.
The team’s manipulator was fabricated using cutting-edge 3D printing and Computerized Numerical Control techniques. They conducted a combination of laboratory experiments and simulated scenarios using a silicone breast model and its digital counterpart, both based on a volunteer at the Simulation and Modeling in Medicine and Surgery research group at Imperial College London.
The simulations enabled the team to perform thousands of palpations and explore various hypothetical scenarios, including the efficiency of employing two, three, or four sensors simultaneously. In the laboratory, they replicated the experiments on the silicone breast, validating the accuracy of their simulations and collecting data on the forces exerted by the actual equipment.
George Jenkinson emphasized the potential impact of their research, stating, “We envision that this research can contribute to the array of techniques used in diagnosing breast cancer. It has the potential to generate a substantial amount of associated data that could aid in identifying significant trends for early breast cancer diagnosis.”
One notable advantage, as mentioned anecdotally by some doctors, is the device’s potential to offer a low-risk method for objectively recording health data. This could facilitate easier comparisons between successive examinations or serve as part of the information packet sent to a specialist when a patient requires further evaluation.
As the next step in this groundbreaking research, the team plans to integrate techniques learned from professionals with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and equip the manipulator with sensors. This step aims to assess the overall effectiveness of the system in identifying potential cancer risks.
The ultimate objective is for this device and its sensors to surpass the capabilities of human touch, enabling more accurate and deeper detection of abnormalities. It could also complement existing techniques, such as ultrasound examination, enhancing the diagnostic toolkit in the fight against breast cancer.
