An 18-year-old boy has invented a bra that detects breast cancer

Could this be the most important innovation in underwear since the bra itself?

With the latest figures suggesting that 1 in 8 women will suffer from breast cancer in the UK alone, this latest invention is certainly good news.

Julian Rios Cantu, a student from Mexico, has reportedly developed a bra which can detect signs of breast cancer - early enough that the chances of a full recovery are far higher.

Oh and, he's 18.

Cantu's invention was inspired by his mother, whose cancer resulted in a double mastectomy.

Cantu and his three friends formed the company Higia Technologies, which applies biosensor development to medical advancement, and is "devoted to boosting women's quality of life by attaining a professionalisation of the self-exploration method for the early and effective detection of breast cancer".

Would you entrust the life of the person you love to such a fallible method as breast self-examination? We DON'T.

- Company website

The bra is called EVA, the 'auto-exploration bra,' and is especially useful for women with a known genetic predisposition towards breast cancer.

It's quicker, easier, cheaper and less invasive than mammograms, for which you often have to wait months.

The 200 biosensors in the bra map the breast surface and note changes in temperature or size, which is allegedly far more accurate than self-evaluation.

An increase in shape, size or temperature could suggest more blood flow, which could reflect that blood vessels are consuming something - a sign in some types of cancer

Julian told Infobae:

As soon as there is a malformation of the beast or a tumour, there is an excess of vascularisation.

The greater the flow of blood, the higher the temperature.

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It just won the top prize at Global Student Entrepreneur Awards (GSEA).

And you don't even have to ditch your beloved lingerie.

You only need to wear this bra for an hour to an hour and a half per week for it to pick up on changes.

In Greek mythology, Hygieia was the daughter of the god of medicine, Asclepius, and Epione.

She was the goddess / personification of health, prevention and hygiene.

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