Healthcare Technology Featured Article

October 09, 2012

HealthTegra Turns to Crowdfunding Campaign to Build Out Free Breast Cancer Self Examination Mobile App


Founded in 2010 and based in San Jose, California, HealthTegra is a company specifically dedicated to the powerful idea that people must take a proactive role in managing their health. The company does so by developing smartphone mobile app technology for health monitoring. HealthTegra is now focused on making its Breast Self Examination (BSE) Aware mobile app available free for people of all socioeconomic backgrounds in the United States, with the ultimate goal of seeing it deployed throughout the world.

BSE Aware will help women learn how to properly perform a breast self-exam, will remind users every month to do it, and will log their results ongoing. 


Image via Shutterstock

It is no secret of course that breast cancer is a significant medical issue - according to the American Cancer Society, one in eight women will develop breast cancer in their lifetime and one in five of those diagnosed will die of the disease. By utilizing modern mobile technology that almost everyone now has in hand to drive both early and ongoing self-exams, HealthTegra hopes to be able to change both the rate of self examination and to speed up the diagnoses of the disease so that it is caught in far earlier stages.

According to the Avon Foundation Breast Center at Johns Hopkins Medicine, 40 percent of diagnosed breast cancer cases are initially detected by a woman noticing a lump. More regular and earlier adherence to a BSE schedule – as well as a better understanding of how to properly conduct a BSE- will save lives.

To deliver the mobile app as quickly as possible, but more importantly to be able to ensure that it is offered for free (which is critical), HealthTegra today has chosen to embark on an aggressive crowdfunding campaign to complete the development of BSE Aware. HealthTegra has opted to use MedStartr, a crowdfunding platform that targets the healthcare industry. The campaign has just been rolled out this week at the sixth annual Health 2.0 conference in San Francisco.

“Research from the World Health Organization has revealed that only a third of American women over 20 perform a breast self-exam on a regular basis,” says Susan Brady, managing editor and spokesperson for HealthTegra. “We have a huge opportunity with BSE Aware to improve those numbers significantly and hence the chance of a woman alerting her doctor to a change in her breast far earlier than has previously been the case.”

Upon completion, HealthTegra’s BSE Aware mobile app will provide women with tutorials on proper techniques for a breast self-exam, send regular reminders via text or e-mail, and even help them log a cumulative history of exams and abnormalities to share with their physician. Designed to be intuitive and user-friendly, the app will be accessible through a computer, tablet or smartphone and will feature easy-to-use graphics.

To make the BSE Aware app available at no cost, HealthTegra is asking for donations of $25 or more in an effort to raise $10,000 in the month-long crowdfunding campaign on MedStartr. Donation awards will be provided at each level of giving.

To complement BSE Aware, HealthTegra has also developed Healthy-Breast.com as an additional resource for encouraging women to be vigilant and proactive about the health of their breasts. The website, currently in beta testing, includes a geo-tagged directory to help women find the right local and relevant doctor, support groups, and resources to fight breast cancer if necessary.




Edited by Brooke Neuman
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