Discovering Hands was founded by Dr. Frank Hoffman in Germany after he identified the need to catch early breast cancer cases that doctors may have missed in regular exams. Hoffman trained blind women, as their heightened sense of touch can potentially detect breast cancer more effectively than doctors. Evidentiary support for this method has shown that trained blind women can detect tissue changes 30% more effectively than doctors. Hoffman also ran a 2023 pilot study which further showed that medical tactile examiners (MTEs) are as accurate as doctors in identifying potentially cancerous lumps.
In her NPR article, Kamala Thiagarajan focuses on one blind woman in particular, Meenakshi Gupta, who is part of this program. Gupta has worked as an MTE at Medanta Hospital in Gurgaon, India, for over two years. Introduced to India in 2017, this program is now part of major hospitals in several Indian cities. MTEs are especially important in these hospitals because of the limited access to mammograms. This initiative helps not only with early detection but also addresses the shortage of mammogram equipment, particularly in rural areas, where breast cancer diagnosis often comes too late.
Training MTEs also empowers blind women through meaningful employment. However, challenges still remain, including social stigma and high training costs. While the program’s success has already made a significant impact, in order to scale it further, significant investment is required.
Works Cited
Thiagarajan, K. (2024, September 8). Women who are blind play a critical role in identifying possible breast cancers. NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/goats-and-soda/2024/09/08/g-s1-15690/breast-cancer-tumors-wom en-blind
