The Smart Bra from First Warning Systems looks like a sports bra, but is able to detect angiogenic activity - the cell temperature changes created over time by new blood vessel growth associated with developing tumors.
The company claims that it analyzes this sensor data with "proprietary software that uses pattern recognition, chronology and artificial intelligence" to look for the changes that could indicate tumor presence and growth.
(Smart Bra from First Warning Systems)
The system is a non-invasive breast physiology screening system, much more sensitive and much more cost effective than mammography. The platform has applications for both OB/GYN and primary care in-office use, as well as potential use as an over-the-counter (OTC) diagnostic system.
Three preliminary clinical studies in more than 650 women have been completed yielding compelling results, demonstrating an average accuracy of 92.1% (percentage of correct classification), an average sensitivity of 94.7% (true positive cases), and an average specificity of 91.1% (true negative cases). In comparison, the specificity and sensitivity of the gold standard mammogram averages 70% and the accuracy of interpretation is completely subject to the skill and ability of the reading radiologist.
Science fiction fans have long been comfortable with clothing with built-in electronic devices. For example, in Rudy Rucker's 1988 novel Wetware, he describes a heartshirt that could both monitor and display the wearer's heart rate.
In Dream Park, a 1981 novel by Larry Niven and Steve Barnes, electronics that are printed on fabric are described - a sleeve watch.
Finally, fans of science fiction's Golden Age recall the electric diaper from David H. Keller's 1928 short story The Psychophonic Nurse:
"...suppose the baby gets wet between times? Suppose it starts to cry?"
"I've thought of that, too. In every diaper there is a fine copper wire. When that becomes wet a delicate current is sent - you understand I mean an electrical current, not a watery one - to an amplifier and a certain sound is made, and the nurse will properly react to that sound..."
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Prairie Madness - And Space Sickness
'Space-sickness is one of the most unpleasant sensations that a human being can experience. Not all are subject to it...'
'Old People Began to Cross The Continent In Their Own Cars'
'It was a relief to enter one of the comfortable autos, whisper a direction down the tube, and just know that you would be taken to your destination in the quickest, safest, and cheapest manner.'
Starfall Manufacturing Drugs In Space
'The vast spinning sphere of Factory in the Sky loomed above and ahead of us, gleaming white against the unfathomable jet depths of surrounding space.'
The Solar Oberth Slingshot
'And if it doesn’t work,' inquired Lazarus, 'what does that make us? Sunspots?'
'If Anyone Is Watching Earth...'
'Our study of your race has convinced us that you are not fitted to leave your planet in the present state of your civilization.'