GLOBAL VISION

Ithemba is a social enterprise focused on creating high-quality and low-cost medical technologies to enable healthcare access for underserved populations across the globe.  Our mission is to facilitate earlier breast cancer diagnosis in developing areas through an affordable, reusable core-needle biopsy device. Despite recent advances in cancer care, the gap in diagnostic capability between the US and low to mid income countries (LMICs) remains stark. 

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To diagnose breast cancer, breast tumor tissue is retrieved using a core-needle biopsy (CNB) device, a minimally invasive tool composed of a thin needle with a cavity to capture tissue and a driver that fires this needle. Disposable, single-use CNB devices are the golden standard in the developed world, but the unit cost (~$40-$50) is too high for developing country clinics to consistently purchase. Meanwhile, reusable devices, composed of a reusable driver and a disposable needle, are rarely used due to frequent internal contamination and a time-consuming cleaning procedure. Without inexpensive, minimally invasive options, patients must undergo invasive and costly surgical biopsies, or worse, go undiagnosed.  We aim to provide healthcare workers and nurses in low-resource clinics and hospitals with the means to perform cost-effective, core needle biopsies to acquire tissue for breast cancer diagnosis.

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