E-HAPLOS: Electrical Impedance Human-guided Assesment with Pressure for Lump Observation System

Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women in the Philippines. Over 65% of these cases are diagnosed when they are advanced (Montemayor, 2023). This highlights the need for improved early screening devices. E-HAPLOS, or Electrical Impedance Human-guided Assessment with Pressure for Lump Observation System, is a low-cost glove with sensors designed to improve early detection of suspicious breast lump through touch. It integrates force-sensitive resistors (FSRs) to measure tissue stiffness and Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) to analyze conductivity across different frequencies, properties that are closely linked to breast cancer. The prototype uses an ESP32 microcontroller that transmits real-time pressure and impedance data to the website. Tested on gelatin breast models with simulated lump, the FSRs effectively identified lump locations by recording higher mean force values (45.81 kPa vs. 33.57 kPa). This guided approach allowed the combined FSR-EIS system to reach a diagnostic performance with an Area Under the Curve (AUC) above 0.94, a significant improvement over unguided measurement (AUC 0.78). A two-way ANOVA confirmed a significant difference in diagnostic performance based on the system modality (p < 0.001). Tukey's Honesty Significant Difference (HSD) test showed that the FSR-EIS system was statistically superior to both the unguided EIS (p < 0.001) and FSR-only system (p = 0.041). Results demonstrate the synergistic effect of the integrated system, enabling accurate differentiation of suspicious lumps from normal tissue. The FSR-EIS system of the E-HAPLOS glove shows a great potential for detection of lumps in simulated breasts as a screening tool.