Interactive app helps women to detect breast cancer

The multi-sensory app Pre Check, which is available on both IOS and Android devices for free, uses intuitive haptic technology to guide women on how to look for breast cancer with their hands.

Breast Cancer Foundation NZ and Colenso BBDO have launched an app to help assist women to detect breast cancer.

The multi-sensory app Pre Check, which is available on both iOS and Android devices for free, uses intuitive haptic technology to guide women on how to look for breast cancer with their hands.

The mobile interface uses the power of touch, sight, audio and 3D motion to help women gain a better understanding of the nine symptoms of breast cancer.

By recreating the symptoms through a phone screen, the tactile experience aims to give women the knowledge and confidence to routinely check their breasts.

The educational tool allows users to feel around the 3D breast in search of anything that doesn't feel normal — just as women would with their own breasts.

The app also includes an easy to follow visual self-check guide and the option to personalise monthly reminders, to ensure that checking becomes a routine.

Colenso BBDO senior copywriter Ellen Fromm said Pre Check reinvents the way we learn about breast cancer.

"By knowing what breast cancer can look and feel like, we're helping women recognise what's normal and abnormal when it comes to their own breasts."

Breast cancer is most treatable when it is found early, so it's vital to know the signs and symptoms of breast cancer as early detection is the best chance of survival.

Breast Cancer Foundation NZ's chief executive, Evangelia Henderson believes the app is a significant new wellbeing tool for women in New Zealand.

"If this new app encourages women to be more alert to breast changes and to see their doctors earlier, it will certainly save lives.

"The information has been available before but this is a new way of putting it in people's hands."

If you notice any changes, see your doctor immediately.