After boy's mom almost dies, he designs a bra that can detect breast cancer

His mother's struggles with cancer motivated Julian Rios Cantu to invent a bra that could help detect breast cancer.

In a YouTube video posted on April 6, 2017, the 18-year-old entrepreneur explains how he developed an auto-exploration bra called Eva.

He is the CEO and co-founder of Higia Technologies, a company he developed with three close friends when he was only 17 years old.

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"When I was 13 years old, my mother was diagnosed for the second time with breast cancer," he explains in the video, which has been viewed more than 193,000 as of July 18, 2018.

"The tumor went from having the dimensions of a grain of rice to that of a golf ball in less than six months. The diagnosis came too late that my mother lost both of her breasts and, almost, her life," he continued.

Cantu's invention won the top prize at the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards finals competition. He bested more than 50 other student entrepreneurs from more than 50 other countries.

Designed particularly for women who have a genetic predisposition to the disease, the breast cancer detection bra uses tactile sensors to map the surface of the breast and monitor texture, color and temperature. Users can use a mobile or desktop to review their condition.

"When there is a tumor in the breast there is more blood, more heat, so there are changes in temperature and in texture," Cantu explained in an interview with El Universal.

"Why bra? Because it allows us to keep the breasts in the same position and it doesn't have to be used more than one hour every week," he added.

Breast cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer afflicting Americans.

For 2018, the American Cancer Society estimates that there will be 268,670 new cases of breast cancer. The number of deaths caused by breast cancer is estimated to reach 41,400 this year.