WASHINGTON: A wireless handheld device which will enable any health care worker to conduct a breast cancer examination within five minutes and access the results on a Smartphone or tablet would be launched next month in the U.S. and India, a top U.S. official has said.

The device is the outcome of US Commerce Department's Economic Development Administration investment of $1 million in a proof-of concept centre to bring life-sciences research to the market, U.S. Commerce Secretary, Penny Pritzeker told the students of Columbia University yesterday.

"Scientists at Drexel University, working with the centre, developed a hand-held, wireless breast cancer scanner, called the iBreast Exam. This device will enable any doctor or health care worker to conduct an exam within five minutes, and then access the results on a Smartphone or tablet," Pritzeker said in her address to the 'Future of Urban Innovation Summit' in New York.

"We expect this product to be available for commercial use in the United States and India starting next month - a tangible result of strong collaboration between an urban hub, academic innovators, and public funding," she said.

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