Bolarinwa Kemisola, a Nigerian robotics engineer invented a Smart Bra that can detect breast cancer.

According to studies, breast cancer is responsible for 28% of all cancers and 20% of all cancer deaths in women in Africa while in Nigeria an estimate of 17,000 women die of breast cancer every year. The invention of the Smart Bra can help fight against breast cancer in Nigeria and Africa as a whole.

As stated by the Nigerian scientist, Kemisola had lost her aunt to this disease which made her devote herself to finding a solution to breast cancer.

Kemisola began the journey of finding a solution to the late detection of breast cancer in 2019, she teamed up with a femwear expert, an IT expert, an embedding hardware expert, an AI expert, a software developer and an oncologist.

In 2021, Kemisola and her team developed the first working prototype of the Smart Bra. According to her, 15 women have tested and three came out with abnormalities which we referred to the hospital for proper diagnosis.

The prototype Smart Bra contains 14 sensors strategically placed across each bra cup, connected to a USB outlet with cables. The USB outlet connects the bra to a computer or mobile app where software accesses the data and scans for anomalies and the readings can be interpreted by a specialist. 

The Smart Bra which is still a prototype has about 87 percent accuracy, however the Nigerian scientist said that they have ordered more developed sensors that will boost the product accuracy to about 98 percent.