MEKATA(DEVELOPMENT OF AUTONOMOUS BREAST CANCER SCREENING SYSTEM)

Breast cancer is the most common tumor type in women under the age of 60 (Başak, 2015). One in every 8 women is likely to develop breast cancer at some point in her life, and the cause of death in one in every 33 women is breast cancer. There are 7.8 million women diagnosed with breast cancer in the last 5 years (Ma et al., 2021). According to World Health Organization (WHO) 2018 data, it is estimated that 2.1 million women get breast cancer every year and 627,000 women die from breast cancer. According to 2020 data, 24.5% of all cancers diagnosed in women are breast cancer, and a total of 684,996 women died due to breast cancer in 2020 (World Health Organization, 2020). In our country, as in other countries, this situation does not change and breast cancer occurs in women. It is the most common cancer. In Turkey, 24,175 women were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2020. According to GLOBOCAN 2020 data, the frequency of breast cancer in Turkey is stated as 46.6 per 100 thousand women. According to the 2020 statistics of the Ministry of Health, breast cancer ranks first among cancers diagnosed in women and second among all cancers. In addition, it was found that 53.9% of diagnosed breast cancers metastasized (Turan & Yiğit, 2021). Breast cancer ranks fourth among cancer-related deaths in Turkey with a rate of 5.7% (Health Statistics Yearbook 2020, https://dosyasb .saglik.gov.tr, 2022). The frequency of breast cancer is increasing. It is observed that the incidence of breast cancer in women in Turkey, which was 24 per 100 thousand in 1993, increased to 46.6 per 100 thousand in 2020. In addition, it has been determined that breast cancer tends to occur at young ages in our country (MERMER & GÜZEKİN, 2021). Identifying women at risk of breast cancer and ensuring their participation in screening programs reduces the mortality/morbidity rates due to this disease (Enjezab, 2016). In our country, as in many societies, the rates of applying screening programs for the early diagnosis of breast cancer are at very low levels. There are many reasons for this. The most important of these are the lack of KETEM centers, especially in rural areas, and the fact that women living in rural areas hesitate to go to a doctor for examination because breast examination is considered to be private due to cultural and religious beliefs.

Early diagnosis is very important for breast cancer, which occurs in one in every eight women in the world and one in every four in our country. The first and most important stage of breast cancer diagnosis is the clinical examinations performed by KETEMs. However, KETEMs are located in provincial centers and this service can be provided by transportation or mobile vehicles. The aim of our project is to ensure that clinical breast examination (CMM) can be performed everywhere with the device we will develop. We also aim to eliminate this problem of women, especially those living in rural areas, who do not have CMM due to their sense of privacy and whose disease progresses, causing treatment to become difficult and even result in death. A body was created for the developed robotic system. The designed parts were removed from the 3D printer and mounted on the body. 4 stepper motors were assembled to the parts taken from the 3D printer. One of them was used for horizontal movement and three of them were used for inspection movements. Three pressure sensors are attached to the end of the stepper motors. Stepper motor and shaft were used to ensure horizontal movement of the system. By simulating a vertical manual inspection, 3 motors move in sequence and the data received from the pressure sensors are sent to Arduino. By comparing the incoming values with a threshold value, it is determined whether there is a mass or not, and suspicious cases are sent to the specialist together with the information obtained through anamnesis.

Our target audience in our study consists of all women. However, we aim to support uneducated women, especially those living in rural areas. Women living in rural areas do not have breast examinations due to their beliefs and culture. This causes developing or underdeveloped countries such as Turkey to reach very high rates of breast cancer. We aim to benefit all women by placing our device in family health centers located in rural areas in our country. Women should have a breast examination starting from the age of 20. After the age of 40, this examination should be regular every year. As a result of our survey, it was seen that women are quite unconscious on this issue.

We are gifted students studying in Antalya. Our goal is to develop beneficial projects for humanity. For this purpose, we are looking for solutions to people's problems. We are aware of our responsibilities in the future. As adults of the future, we are trying to progress towards becoming scientists. Our project works as a prototype, but we need support to make this device available to the public. That's why this competition is very important for us. With the support we will receive, we will produce our device and make it available in all public health centers. For our project, the Turkish Ministry of Health, Antalya Provincial Health Directorate, Antalya Provincial Directorate of National Education and industrialists were contacted and a protocol was signed. Additionally, patent applications for our project have been made.

Testing for the device has been carried out so far under the supervision of experts. In awareness-raising activities, a total of 2000 women were reached in 10 villages in Antalya. However, our device has not been put into use yet.

We applied for Solve to implement our project. We want our project to be implemented with both technical and investor support. As secondary school students, we want to work for humanity under the guidance of our advisors. For this, we need people and institutions that will provide us with opportunities. The resources we have are not sufficient for our scientific studies.

The biggest problem in rural areas is the shame of women due to religious beliefs. Because of this problem, many women in our country get breast cancer. In the current solution, individuals are taken from the villages by vehicles and brought to the provincial centers and examined in places called KETEM. However, many women do not participate in this. They do not come to the city center using their work as an excuse. Our project is a device that can turn family health centers in villages into the first examination centers. Thus, individuals will be able to go and be examined at any time and experts will be able to see the data of the robotic system.

We believe that our solution will raise great awareness about breast cancer. As a result of our surveys and interviews, we clarified the reasons why women do not get examined. Considering these reasons, our project will be a solution to them. In addition, due to its low cost, we predict that by using it in all family health centers, the rates of breast cancer will decrease in rural areas in the long term.

After many trials, we have prepared the most stable working system. prototype is ready. After this stage, we need to convert our project into a format that can be applied to the industry. So it can be made available.

As students, we aim to use science for humanity. We only work for better living conditions for humanity, without any expectations. We use the technology training we received for the projects we carry out. Our goal is to make the world a better place as good engineers.

Our team consists of 5 people. Three students and 2 teachers. I carried out the design and assembly processes. My friends worked in software operations. During this process, our two consultant teachers guided us and carried out protocol procedures. We did our work after school. We worked sometimes face to face and sometimes online.

We have been working on this project for two years. We tried many different methods. We visited many villages for awareness activities.

Our team consists of three students. While creating our team, we came together with people who specialize in design, software and robotics. We presented our project idea to our advisor teachers and asked for guidance. Our project consists of many stages. We worked collaboratively at all of these stages. We would complete our work within the framework of a work schedule. We contacted the authorities in our country and organized joint studies with them.

We are secondary school students studying at a gifted school. Our goal is to advance on the path of science for a better world. We are trying to reach everyone around us.

We carry out our work with the support of our school and some philanthropic people. Our financial means are limited. This is how we completed the project financial processes