App That Detect Breast Cancer Early

Five Nigerian basic and clinical scientists have developed a self-assessment software for early breast cancer screening using a mobile application that they termed the B-Health Mobile Application.

This feat was achieved at a Research for Impact workshop which took place from May 1 to 12, 2023.

The project, which was funded by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund in collaboration with Innov8 Hub, is in line with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal-3 which aims at improving the quality of health and well-being of Nigerians.

The project members include both basic and clinical health Researchers and Lecturers: Dr Lukman Alli, Department of Medical Biochemistry, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, University of Abuja, who was the Chief Executive Officer of the team; Dr. Aliyu Muhammad, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Life Sciences, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, served as the Chief Scientific Officer I; while Dr. Ben-Azu Benneth who is the Head of Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, Delta State University, Abraka was the CSO II.

Others include: Dr. Bunonyo Kubugha, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Faculty of Science, Federal University Otuoke, Bayelsa State was the Chief Technical Officer; while the group’s Chief Relation Officer was Dr. Salihu Ismail, Department of Medical Biochemistry, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, Federal University, Dutse.

According to the team, breast cancer is the most diagnosed cancer and the leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women worldwide.

The Chief Relation Officer, noted that, “In 2020 alone, approximately 2.3 million new breast cancer cases were diagnosed and over 685,000 deaths recorded. Unfortunately, this trend would not decline until the right steps are taken.

“Team Health and Wellbeing developed an interactive mobile application called B-Health. This app, available to Android users, has the potential to provide easy and early assessments of the risks of developing breast cancer, which can result in the reduction of breast cancer globally. This innovation is in line with the United Nation’s SDG 3 – Health and Wellbeing.

“Through the interactive feature, B-Health assesses possible signs and symptoms of breast cancer and offers the possibility to forward data collected to the physician, with the consent of the end-user. This innovation makes this application unique,” Ismail noted further.

The Chief facilitator and designer of the program, Obichi Obiajunwa noted that the RI program is an excellent platform to launch and incentivise lectures for value-driven research.

Obiajunwa lauded “TETFund’s success in helping lecturers to translate research results into practice,” stresdjng that, “this will not only accelerate the beneficial aspects of our research but also has a major positive impact on our country’s economy. This is an important role for the academia in today’s knowledge-driven economy.”