MIT Solve

Solution Overview

Solution Name:

The Blue Box Biomedical Solutions Inc.

One-line solution summary:

A biomedical device, based in AI, for an in-home, non-invasive, non-radiant, economical and easy to use detection of breast cancer.

Pitch your solution.

Cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide. Breast cancer diagnoses in the US have been rising from 226,000 in 2010 until now and are expected to hit 294,000 by 2030, remaining the 4th most diagnosed cancer. The most popular current screening solution is the mammogram, but an ongoing strong debate on its performance -mainly because of its low sensitivity- is leaving an open spot at the market to be filled by a pain-free, low-cost, non-irradiating new approach.

Our proposed solution, The Blue Box, enables the patient to get self-tested at home, just by downloading an app and introducing a urine sample in a box. Thanks to an AI-powered embedded algorithm, The Blue Box will not only increase women's survival but also change the way the current medicine is practiced - shifting the focus from reactive into preventive medicine.

Film your elevator pitch.

What specific problem are you solving?

The American Cancer Society predicted that breast cancer would represent 30% of all cancers diagnosed in the US in 2020. However, research dedicated to it is not proportional to its incidence. Actually, the NIH recognised women as underrepresented in medical research.

This trend can be observed in the field of oncology, specifically considering current breast cancer screenings. Indeed, a study by the CDC stated that only 65% women attended it in the last 2 years, potentially resulting in 1/3 breast cancers being detected too late, and thus women having a worse prognosis and survival chance. Reasons for women skipping the mammogram-based screening are multiple: pain (41% of interviewees), difficulty of work absence and poor insurance coverage according to the Journal of Women’s Health.

Finally, although its dose is not substantial enough to be considered harmful, biennially exposure to the mammogram increases breast cancer risk itself.

In conclusion, The Blue box is aiming at breast cancer survaillance by detecting it at early stages via a non-invasive, non-radiant, inexpensive, in-home breast cancer screening.

What is your solution?

Inspired by the olfactory system and the olfactory neurons of a dog, The Blue Box is a biomedical developing device based on AI to detect breast cancer in a non-invasive, non-radiant, economical, specific and easy way to use... just by introducing a sample of urine in a "box"!

After having a Blue Box delivered at home, the user just needs to download an app and follow three simple steps: collect a urine sample in a container, introduce it in The Blue Box, and wait 30 minutes.

During these 30 minutes, The Blue Box performs a chemical analysis of the sample and sends the results to the cloud, where an AI-powered algorithm is run. This leads to a diagnosis, which is communicated via the app.

Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?

Due to its irradiating nature, mammogram-based screenings only target a narrow population segment (typically women aged 45-65) – for the diagnosis power to outweigh its cancerous radiation dose. Nevertheless, The Blue Box is aimed at all women from all ages.

The proposed scenario is that of every family owning a Blue Box, which can be used by all its female members at their desired frequency and indefinitely, every single user owns an account at The Blue App, which keeps track of her screening history throughout her whole life.

In turn, the Blue App gathers data from users worldwide, which is then used to release new software versions with enhanced prediction algorithms that get automatically installed to every Blue Box at every home.

Furthermore, we are planning to contact with association of breast cancer to know further the needs and expectactions of women who have suffered from this disease. Then, we will apply their comments into the final result of The Blue Box app.

As a conclusion, the presented breast cancer screening solution can be performed at home, with no need of medical knowledge. Additionally, because it is highly software-based, it is considerably inexpensive to manufacture, which translates into being accessible for an extremely wide population segment, regardless of its economical status and health insurance conditions. Examplewise, a Blue Box is worth $60 and can be reused indefinitely, whilst a mammogram and MRI cost $175 and $700 respectively per single use.

Which dimension of the Challenge does your solution most closely address?

Strengthen disease surveillance, early warning predictive systems, and other data systems to detect, slow, or halt future disease outbreaks.

Explain how the problem you are addressing, the solution you have designed, and the population you are serving align with the Challenge.

The Blue Box will be a revolutionary way to detect breast cancer at early stages, what will mean to reduce the impact of this disease among women population.

Aligned with that, it is the third and the fifth SDGs, because The Blue Box will be a better screening test for breast cancer: it will be a non-invasive, non-radiant, inexpensive, in-home way to detect breast cancer at early stages just by introducing a urine sample. As a consequence, many more women will have access to a prevention method, which will mean an improvement in their lives.

In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?

Irvine, California, EE. UU.

What is your solution’s stage of development?

Prototype: A venture or organization building and testing its product, service, or business model.

Explain why you selected this stage of development for your solution.

The prototype stage is the current stage because The Blue Box has been tested with 90 urine sample from control subjects and breast cancer patients at Sant Joan University Hospital in Reus, Spain. This test resulted in a sensitivity of 75%.

But we are going to test The Blue Box with more samples in order to achieve a better rate of detection for breast cancer and at early stages as well. So, we count on the participation of several hospitals, such as Joan XXIII Universitary Hospital of Tarragona, Spain.

Who is the Team Lead for your solution?

Judit Giró Benet