By bridging the gap between medical research and business, a Cypriot team is developing an innovative tool for frequent and painless breast health monitoring. The creators of MammoCheck explain to Alphanews.live how the system works and analyze the funding challenges within the local innovation ecosystem.

The creation of MammoCheck has its roots in JA Cyprus’s Beyond Pre-accelerator program. There, the three co-founders of the startup—Alexandra Dimitriadou, Athina Gregoriou, and Marios Pafitis, were challenged to develop innovative solutions to combat cancer. Having witnessed the disease firsthand through people in their immediate circle, the founders focused on breast cancer, quickly identifying a serious gap in the existing prevention process—the lack of frequent screening.

“Between scheduled screenings, women essentially have no reliable, affordable, and safe way to monitor their health,” the founders emphasize to Alphanews.live, explaining the rationale behind their decision to create a solution for easy and affordable breast health monitoring.

As they point out, although mammography remains the primary screening tool, it is not recommended for women under 45 due to ionizing radiation. The team aims to fill this very gap by developing a tool that serves as a complement to—rather than a substitute for—established screening methods. “We wanted to offer a supplementary tool that is radiation-free, painless, and accessible,” they note.

Through this collaboration with Frederick University, the founders studied how thermal imaging technology, combined with artificial intelligence, can serve as a powerful tool for early detection.

The Initial Obstacles

For the MammoCheck team, the biggest hurdle in launching the business was complying with the strict criteria governing the healthcare sector.

“The biggest challenge was the transition from a promising research result to a product that must meet strict regulatory and clinical standards,” the founders explain. As they point out, in this sensitive field, a good idea or a working prototype is not enough; robust clinical evidence, a quality management system, risk management, and a clear regulatory strategy for each market.

“This required us to build a multidisciplinary team and a network of consultants in regulatory affairs, clinical research, and quality, investing time in doing things right from the start,” they note.

International Recognition

The inclusion of all three co-founders on the Greek Forbes 30 Under 30 list was a significant milestone for MammoCheck.

“It was an honor and, above all, a strong vote of confidence,” the founders note. As they explain, this recognition also increases their responsibility toward the women who are waiting to purchase MammoCheck, serving as a promise of the positive social impact they aim to achieve.

In a sensitive industry where credibility is the foundation of success, such an accolade acts as a catalyst for the market. “It opens doors. It facilitates discussions with healthcare partners, investors, as well as regulatory and clinical partners, while simultaneously raising the profile of our mission,” they note.

In Practice

But how does this innovative technology work in practice, and how is artificial intelligence used to detect suspicious signs? The founders of MammoCheck explained the system’s basic operating principle.

The device uses a thermal camera, which records the temperature pattern on the skin’s surface. “It emits no radiation; it simply detects infrared radiation, which is why it is completely safe and painless,” they clarify. The scientific rationale behind this method is based on the fact that tissue with abnormal activity may be associated with changes in blood flow and metabolism, factors that, in turn, directly affect the body’s thermal patterns.

This is precisely where Artificial Intelligence comes into play. The specialized AI model developed by the team is trained to recognize patterns that may be suspicious indicators, flag them, and then assign a confidence score to each finding.

“It’s important to emphasize that the system does not make a diagnosis,” the founders stress. The technology acts as an initial “gatekeeper,” flagging indicators that require further investigation. Each result is then reviewed by specialized medical staff, who evaluate the data and decide whether to refer the patient for standard diagnostic tests.

The management and security of highly sensitive health data is one of the most critical issues in modern medical technology. Referring to the tool’s current stage of development, the founders clarify that MammoCheck is in the clinical trial phase. “At this stage, data processing is conducted under strict research protocols and with all necessary approvals from the relevant ethics committees,” they conclude.

Maturity in the Ecosystem

The discussion on the development of health technology inevitably brings to the forefront the environment in which these ideas are born and developed. The founders of MammoCheck share their assessments of the Cypriot innovation ecosystem, noting that “The Cypriot ecosystem has matured significantly in recent years,” while also highlighting the importance of the substantial support provided in the early stages through accelerators, co-working spaces, university spin-off structures, and government grants. The startup itself, moreover, has benefited directly from the programs of the Research and Innovation Foundation (IDEK).

However, the picture changes when a company is called upon to move into the expansion phase, particularly in specialized and demanding sectors such as healthcare. “The biggest challenge arises in the subsequent stages. Access to growth capital for deep tech and health tech—which require longer time horizons and a specialized understanding of regulatory risk—remains limited locally,” they explain.

To overcome this obstacle, the team is pursuing an outward-looking strategy, supplementing domestic support with European funding instruments and by reaching out to international investors. As they conclude, Cyprus offers an excellent starting point, though there is clearly room for improvement in scale-up funding.

Next Steps

When asked where MammoCheck stands today, the founders make it clear that the startup is going through a pivotal period, currently in an advanced stage of development and clinical validation.

“We are currently conducting a clinical trial targeting 400 participants across multiple hospital centers in Cyprus, approved by the National Bioethics Committee,” the co-founders state. In fact, they are issuing an open call to all women who wish to support the effort, noting that they can sign up for the study through the company’s official website.

The next major step for the startup involves regulatory matters, with its sights set on both Europe and the other side of the Atlantic. As they report, preparations are already underway for the submission to the FDA (the U.S. Food and Drug Administration), as well as the technical dossier for obtaining the CE marking (the European certification confirming that a product meets safety, health, and environmental protection standards).

The founders of MammoCheck confirm that the company is in a particularly active phase in terms of fundraising. “We are in active discussions as part of a pre-seed round, with existing commitments from investors,” they reveal.  

“We are looking for investors who understand the health tech sector, the time horizon, and the value of regulatory compliance, and who share our mission,” the co-founders emphasize, adding that “our priority is finding the right partners, not just capital.”

Beyond Cyprus

Given that breast cancer is an issue affecting millions of women, MammoCheck, through its strategic plan, looks beyond the narrow geographical boundaries of Cyprus.

“Breast cancer is a global problem, so our strategy is, by definition, international,” the founders state, outlining their next steps on the global stage. The starting point of their international journey is the United States. Next, the plan calls for expansion into Saudi Arabia, as well as the rest of Europe, upon obtaining CE marking.

One of MammoCheck’s strongest competitive advantages in achieving this goal is the flexibility of its model, which is hardware-agnostic. This means that the software they developed can work with any compatible thermal cameras already on the market, drastically reducing both production costs and barriers to entry in each new geographic region.

The Effort

Looking ahead, the three co-founders’ long-term vision for MammoCheck is people-centered and international.

“In five years, we envision MammoCheck as a reliable, clinically validated, and regulatory-approved complementary tool, available in multiple markets,” the founders state. Their goal is for this technology to reach women of all ages, with an emphasis on younger women, as well as those living in areas with limited access to healthcare services, offering them the ability to effectively monitor their breast health between scheduled checkups, always in close collaboration with clinicians.

“If we manage to help even one woman detect something early, the effort will have been worthwhile,” they conclude.