The National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts, NESTA, has granted Micrima Ltd, of Bristol University, £150,000 to develop a new microwave radar technology, based on the technology used to detect landmines, for the detection of tumors during screening for breast cancer.

According to the newsroom at NESTA, each year 1.5 million women are screened for breast cancer in the UK. At present, breast cancer screening is carried out mainly by X-ray mammography which is more suitable for women over 50 when breast tissue is less fibrous. The new method needs no breast compression and the ‘radiation’ used is non-ionizing unlike x-rays, which because of potential health effects, has to be used sparingly, and avoided where possible in younger women. In contrast, the radar method may be very suitable for younger women, and has absolutely no health detriment.

The technology was originally developed for detecting buried landmines. Mine detection and breast screening share similar characteristics in they both involve the discovery of a discrete object whose electrical properties differ from the surrounding medium.