This Breast Cancer Awareness Month we’re celebrating two advancements Triple Ring has been honored to help engineer. From a novel imaging device that redefines breast cancer detection to an upright radiation therapy system: innovation is easing anxiety and improving dignity for patients worldwide.
Breast cancer is one of the most personal battles a woman can face — and too often, the experience of care brings fear, discomfort, and anxiety. This Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Triple Ring Technologies announces its engineering role in two breakthrough systems designed to change that reality: Malcova’s narrow beam imaging platform and Leo Cancer Care’s upright radiation therapy system.
Both innovations are redefining what it means to put patients first, proving that engineering excellence can deliver not only clinical precision, but compassion. Triple Ring is known as the ‘special ops’ partner for innovators — an elite team of engineers, scientists, and strategists called on to solve the toughest challenges in medtech and life sciences. From breast cancer care to at-home and wearable patient monitoring devices, Triple Ring delivers not only technical breakthroughs but human-centered solutions that change lives.
Every year 1 in 8 women in the U.S. are diagnosed with breast cancer. Fortunately, early detection leads to 99% survival at 5 years for those patients who access breast cancer screening. However, a breast cancer diagnosis today triggers a 4 – 8-month cascade of clinical and personal events that result in anxiety, fear, and disruption before a definitive care plan or rule out is complete.
Inefficiency and overburdened healthcare systems stretch the time from first detection through follow up and clinical work up, leading to weeks of concern about the potential severity of the cancer and how quickly action must be taken. If additional tests are ordered, long waits are incurred, costs mount, and time passes without a plan. Standard mammography has the additional drawback of low diagnostic accuracy for patients with dense breast tissue, a normal anatomical feature in up to 50% of the female population worldwide. Standard mammography is inadequate for detecting lesions masked by dense breast tissue, resulting in incorrect positive and negative diagnoses that create uncertainty, ambiguity, stress, and needless follow-up.
Imaging Devices That Improve Breast Cancer Detection
Malcova, Inc. is a Silicon Valley startup focused on developing a new comprehensive imaging device that dramatically improves breast cancer detection and diagnosis, particularly in dense breast tissue, and removes costly, lengthy, and imprecise secondary diagnostic steps. The system, developed in collaboration with Triple Ring’s experts in medical device and medical imaging R&D, features a patient interface that was carefully designed for patient comfort, both physically and experientially. Malcova’s narrow beam imaging technology at the core of the diagnostic system produces 3-dimensional images with high information content that enable better diagnosis, with less ambiguity earlier in the process. Malcova has also developed digital twin technology which can be matched with AI to generate deeper diagnostic clarity and better treatment planning, equipping clinicians with sharper, more confident diagnoses.
Radiation Therapies That Improve Breast Cancer Treatment
Lowering barriers to early detection of breast cancer through human-centric design is critical to patient survival, but breast cancer treatment is also in need of innovation. Leo Cancer Care is a rising star in radiation therapy for breast cancer and other malignancies. Their “Marie” system was designed in partnership with Triple Ring’s imaging and engineering teams. It increases the accuracy of tumor ablation by combining an upright patient positioning system with a built-in fan beam CT scanner for imaging and treatment planning.
One of Leo Cancer Care’s key innovations is rotating the patient rather than the radiation beam, eliminating the need for bulky gantry systems. Global research is finding that the seated positioning reduces anatomical shifts during treatment, particularly in thoracic and abdominal tumors, which may improve radiation delivery precision.
Additionally, patients report the upright posture is more comfortable, provokes less anxiety, and supports greater engagement during treatment. Compared to the traditional supine (lying down) positions, the seated positioning allows for natural eye contact, easier breathing, and a more empowering experience. By improving patient comfort and increasing treatment accuracy and consistency, the “Marie” system aims to reduce the chances of incomplete tumor ablation.
This in turn promotes better outcomes by decreasing the need for repeated procedures. The system’s design significantly lowers infrastructure costs and installation complexity, enabling expanded access of lifesaving advanced particle therapies like proton or carbon ion therapy.
Together, these technologies address complementary needs: better, more accessible screening, and enhanced, highly accurate treatment, ensuring that more women not only get diagnosed earlier, but also complete their treatment with less fear.
Triple Ring Commercial GM, Ryan McGuinness recently commented:
“In a field that tends to focus on technological advancement first, we asked a different question: What if the real barrier to saving lives isn’t only the technology, but patient experience? Our collaborations with Malcova and Leo Cancer Care prove that compassion and precision can coexist — and that when you engineer with the patient as the primary concern, you help women stay engaged in the care that saves their lives.”
About Triple Ring Technologies
Triple Ring is a Corporate Growth Lab built to accelerate time to market, strengthen mid-term product pipelines, and creatively manage R&D risk. We drive sustained growth and tackle the innovator’s dilemma for the world’s largest medtech and life sciences corporations and select startups. Founded in 2005 and headquartered in Silicon Valley, Triple Ring’s capabilities span IP generation, early R&D, product and technology development, and support for regulatory approval. For more information, please visit www.tripleringtech.com.
Learn more about Malcova
Learn more about Leo Cancer Care
