The self-breast examination mobile application and remote patient monitoring system, prepared with the aim of diagnosing breast cancer in advance and sensitizing Cypriot women on this issue, were activated. A press conference and award ceremony were held in Cyprus.

The mobile application, which was initiated by the Chairman of the Cyprus Health Tourism Development Council, Ahmet Savaşan Bey, and designed and developed by TOBB ETÜ University, Faculty of Medicine, Lecturer Prof. Dr. Tayfun Aybek, and placed on the Apple Store, was uploaded to the Apple Store on 02.01.2017.

As is known, one in eight women (12.9%) has the misfortune of developing breast cancer throughout their lives. Breast tumors, which can usually be diagnosed during routine examinations, can be completely treated when caught at an early stage. However, in many countries, women unfortunately neglect regular examinations. In addition, findings from regular examinations can be lost if they are not performed by the same hospital or doctor.

In the system, the technical infrastructure of which was prepared by Prof. Dr. Tayfun Aybek, Head of Cardiovascular Surgery Department at TOBB ETÜ University, who conducts R&D studies on Patient Tracking Systems and acts as Project Manager in the TÜBİTAK Project, women can receive training to perform breast self-examination from the comfort of their own home, archive examination results in a calendar, instantly send examination results to their own doctor and even benefit from functions such as warning/reminder.

“With this application, if we can encourage our women, spouses or potential patients to self-examine before they get cancer, how happy we would be!” said Prof. Aybek, continuing his words, “We continue to develop the mobile application with R&D studies. Very soon, we will integrate medical devices into the system and the application. Thus, the results of every medical device provided by the patients will be instantly transmitted to the Doctor and reported. When necessary, they will be able to receive information from their Doctor face to face but remotely via the video conference system.”

At the Press Conference held in Cyprus, the President of the Cyprus Health Tourism Council, Ahmet Savaşan, stated that the system was presented to Cypriot women as a gift and that they could use it free of charge.

The President of the Cyprus Cancer Patients Aid Association, Ms. Raziye Kocaismail, stated that she was happy with the application, which was considered a “miracle”, and that it would be very useful, and that immediate action would be taken for the women members of the Association to use it.

The mobile application called “SelfCheck”, developed by our hospital doctor Prof. Dr. Tayfun Aybek as a result of R&D studies at our university, will soon be available on Google Play Store. We wish good luck to all Cypriot women.