An 18-year-old from Mexico has won the top prize at the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards (GSEA) for developing EVA, a bra that can help in the early detection of breast cancer.

Driven by his own mother’s struggle with breast cancer, Julián Ríos Cantú designed a bra that uses 200 biosensors to detect any changes to the breast and notifies the wearer via a smartphone app. 

"EVA is a network of biosensors that goes on the breast of the woman, takes the temperature and from there sends information to an application or any computer" Ríos Cantú explained to Forbes Mexico.

Through the app, women can detect any changes to the breast that could be a sign or symptom of breast cancer. For example, detecting a rise in heat could indicate more blood flow, which might also suggest the presence of a tumor. Patients only need to wear the bra for an hour each week for the system to pick up on any changes.

The bra was developed by Julián along with three friends through his company Higia Technologies. He and his team fought off competition from 13 other students from around the globe and pocketed the $20,000 grand prize at the GSEA Finals in Frankfurt, Germany last weekend. He even got a message from the Mexican President, Enrique Peña Nieto, who congratulated him on Twitter on his achievement.

For now, the product is in its early stages and remains a work in progress. With the help of the money, attention, and expert consultancy brought by the awards, the team hopes to continue down this path of success.