Early Detection for All: Sona’s New ground-breaking Ultrasound Tech to Make Breast Cancer Screening More Efficient and Save Lives

• Sona, from the world-leading National Physical Laboratory (NPL), will revolutionise breast cancer screening with world’s first innovative ultrasound-based breast density assessment and monitoring technology, that does not require imaging or trained radiologists.
• The patented Sona solution enables healthcare systems to provide timely personalised screening through simple, safe and low-cost access to breast density information, which is currently limited by age and use of traditional mammograms.
• Sona aims to create a new standard in breast cancer risk assessment and early detection.
• Approximately 70% of breast cancers are detected in women with dense breasts, however, most women do not know their breast density. Nearly half of women have high breast density and high breast density both increases breast cancer risk (by up to a factor of 6) and causes cancers to be missed on screening mammograms.
• National healthcare systems worldwide are increasingly using breast density information to provide better screening services. In September, the FDA became the first regulator to mandate breast density reporting for screening and the European Society of Breast Imaging is now recommending informing women of their breast density.
• First investment of £200k into Sona from the UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund (UKI2S), managed by Future Planet Capital, paves the way for spinout formation in 2025 in addition to £250K in grant funding for advanced product development from the Government Office for Technology Transfer.
• Through the support of GOTT and UKI2S, this partnership demonstrates the UK’s commitment to fostering economic growth through public-sector-led innovation, with investments that enhance public health outcomes and align with national healthcare improvement goals.

By adopting revolutionary technologies like Sona’s, healthcare systems like the NHS will be able to enhance patient outcomes and achieve long-term healthcare efficiencies through early identification of at-risk individuals. The Sona device’s capabilities align with NHS objectives by promoting streamlined healthcare delivery for breast cancer risk assessment.

Sona’s device allows women to proactively monitor their breast health before they are old enough to access a mammogram. The simple low-cost desktop device, easily deployed in local GP clinics and primary care sites, delivers quick, reliable breast density readings. Early cancer detection is key to saving lives, and Sona’s unique innovation will ensure women are offered the right forms of screening at the right time.

Unlike traditional methods that rely on X-rays, which pose risks due to radiation exposure, Sona’s solution leverages novel ultrasound sensor technology to provide safer, more sensitive breast density assessments without the need for imaging or trained radiologists.