The eight-second scan that can detect breast cancer... using anti-landmine technology

British scientists have created a revolutionary breast screening system using anti-mine technology that can detect cancer in a few seconds.

Pain-free radio wave scanner is safer than traditional X-ray mammography, which pose a risk of radiation used in hundreds of thousands of women each year.

Experts believe that the new device, which is cheaper, can be used in women of any age, in contrast with current technology.

It is expected the system, called Maria, will be in widespread use within five years in doctors surgeries and clinics. " Women under 50 are not usually screened for breast cancer, partly because of the risks of regular doses of ionizing radiation from an early age.

They also have denser breast tissue, making it difficult to detect tumors using X-ray Using radio waves are easier to find problems in all tissues. But the most attractive element for women is pain free tests, with one end to the occupation of breast squeezed between two X-ray plates. Instead, the breast is held in a ceramic cup-shaped scanner while data is transferred to a computer within eight seconds to take a picture 3D.

Conventional test uses low dose X-ray and two scans taken from the chest, during which the technician must retreat from the radiation. It takes an average of one minute for a radiologist to examine a case, but this can be doubled if another opinion requested or the X-ray is difficult to interpret. Women are usually informed of the outcome within two weeks.

Developed by Micrima, a company that began at the University of Bristol, Mary technology is based on a mine-detection program was able to detect non-metallic explosives in soil. Similarly, the system can find Maria dangerous "hot spots" in the chest with scanning signals from the airwaves.