In the United States, about one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer during their lifetime. Cancer.org estimates that in 2017, over 300,000 new cases will emerge. At Temple, an engineering professor is working on tactile devices that could improve early detection and help save lives.

Dr. Chang-Hee Won, associate professor in electronic and computer engineering, is working on two patents for tactile imaging systems. The detected changes in sensing probe deformation through light help to determine if a tumor exists and whether it is benign or malignant, based on elasticity of the tumor.

Breast cancer patients follow a standard path: screening, diagnostic clinical imaging followed by biopsy. With this system, Dr. Won believes a new option will emerge.

"If this device is there, they can actually quantify the elasticity [of a tumor], quantify the size, and say, 'Oh, maybe we can just monitor it' or primary physicians can decide to send the patient to the hospital," he said. This adds another pre-screening option that can reduce the number of hospital visits and related costs.

Dr. Won sees the imaging system as a tool that primary care physicians can use with their patients, which alleviates some of the anxiety and physical discomfort surrounding mammograms at unfamiliar locations. It also allows for more frequent examinations and monitoring of tumors. He hopes to advance the technology from the laptop-based system to a smartphone-based system, which he feels will be the more accessible and marketable device. The laptop device has been patented.

In this current project, supported by a Department of Defense Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program grant, Dr. Won and his researchers are also trying to put the technology into a smartphone case. Dr. Won is hoping to start feasibility studies next year and launch a small clinical feasibility study.

Biomedical sensing isn't Dr. Won's first vocation. After working on aerospace sensors at the industry and University of North Dakota, he came to Temple in 2005. Since Temple has no aerospace focus, he found another path. "There were a lot of biomedical applications going on with the hospital," he recalled. "I switched my application to the biomedical side."

While he hasn't changed much of his theoretical work, he does prefer the shorter timeline associated with biomedical devices as compared to aerospace applications, where it could take many more years to see the results of research. His past research on multispectral camera was done for the International Space Station.

He notes that using spectral cameras have uses in both aerospace and biomedical fields, which assisted his transition between the fields. While his new project may not fly into space, it certainly has a chance to impact the lives of millions and reduce the number of fatal cases for a major health threat.