‘Box’ that can screen women at home wins Dyson award

A BREAST cancer screening device that can be used daily at home has scooped the £30,000 James Dyson Award.

The Blue Box is a less invasive way to detect the early signs of breast cancer using a urine sample and an artificial intelligence algorithm.

Judit Giró Benet, 23, from Spain, came up with the idea after her mother was diagnosed with the disease.

“The Blue Box has the potential to make cancer screening a part of daily life,” Ms Benet said. “It can help to change the way society fights breast cancer to ensure that more women can avoid an advanced diagnosis.”

The £30,000 prize will go towards the final stages of prototyping and developing data analytics software.

Sir James Dyson, the British inventor, said: “Unfortunately, I have witnessed first-hand the harrowing effects of cancer and as scientists and engineers we should do anything we can to overcome this terrible disease.

“Judit is using hardware, software and AI together, in an impressive way, to create a well-designed product that could make cancer screening part of everyday life.

“The data which The Blue Box collects and stores in the cloud will provide insight which can enable more precise treatment and expand global knowledge of cancer.

“She deserves all the support she can get as she navigates the highly complex system of medical approvals.”

For the first time this year, the James Dyson Award also introduced a sustainability category. It was won by AUREUS System Technology, a material made from waste crops, which converts UV light into renewable energy.

It was invented by 27-year-old Carvey Ehren Maigue, of Mapua University in Manila, the Philippines.

Meanwhile, a team of students from Imperial University and the Royal College of Art was named as a runner-up after inventing a device that captures tyre-wear particles at the wheel of a vehicle so they can be recycled.