PSS begins sales of BreastAlert

Equipment distributor Physician Sales & Service of Jacksonville, FL, has begun selling BreastAlert Differential Temperature Sensor, a device that assists in the early detection of breast cancer by discerning differences in temperature between breast tissue. HumaScan, the company with marketing rights to BreastAlert, began shipping the first BreastAlert sensors to PSS distribution facilities in late December. BreastAlert was developed by Scantek Medical of Denville, NJ, which granted U.S. and Canadian rights to the product to HumaScan of Cranford, NJ.

The device consists of heat-sensitive pads that are placed on each breast to measure breast tissue temperature, which can be higher in cancerous tissue due to the metabolic activity of early-stage tumors, HumaScan claims. A difference of 2F between mirror-image segments of the breasts indicates that pathology may be present and that a patient should be sent on for mammography screening. HumaScan hopes the product will prove useful in women under age 40, a population that is not recommended for mammography screening.