Assam Doctor Secures Patent for Self-Breast Examination Demo Model

NDTV | September 6, 2025 | 07:36 PM IST | Breaking News | Tags: Jammu Kashmir news | Follow on Google News

Assam Doctor Secures Patent for Self-Breast Examination Demo Model

Guwahati: A self-breast examination demonstration model developed by well-known breast cancer researcher Dr Gayatri Gogoi was recently awarded a design patent by the government.

She was issued the patent (Design no: 395195-001) by the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks. Dr Gogoi is an associate professor at the Assam Medical College and Hospital (AMCH), Dibrugarh, and Adjunct Researcher at the ICMR Regional Medical Research Centre, North East.

While working in breast cancer research, she observed that the diagnosis of the cancer is often late, in spite of it being an external organ, due to low levels of awareness about the disease risk.

Another major obstacle is that even though breast cancer screening by mammography is available, it is still not feasible for common Indian women. It involves high costs and requires technical expertise.

Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, showed that healthcare workers can be trained to detect cancer effectively and save thousands of lives in India.

“Breast cancer is the leading cancer globally as well as in India. Every 4 minutes, a new breast cancer case is diagnosed, and almost 50 per cent of them are diagnosed at an advanced stage. Therefore, in India, cancer awareness among the public and implementation of suitable user-friendly breast cancer screening programs is an urgent need,” she said.

For breast cancer screening, the simple, affordable model can be used to demonstrate a “show-how” level of knowledge transfer to first train ASHAs and ANMs of primary health centres and sub-centres. Then they can demonstrate self-breast examination to be practised by women themselves.

Extensive training is a must so that they are confident and interested in continuing it for their population. Only when the population around them adopts this simple method will the desired outcome be achieved. Currently, only with the help of a diagram on paper is the training being offered, and therefore, there is a gap in learning and teaching the skill quickly and confidently.

“This SBE demonstration model is designed for everyday use, easily available, ordinary material which is safe, eco-friendly, very low-cost, has no side effects, is lightweight, and is easy to carry anywhere by ASHAs and ANMs. Moreover, it is acceptable for females to demonstrate on an open platform, keeping in mind cultural sensitivity. This model can be a game changer if used by primary health centres or sub-centres to teach the right technique to detect any abnormality at the earliest,” she added.

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