Tec researchers aim to predict breast cancer risk using AI

Driven by a clear mission to save lives through prevention, researchers from Tec de Monterrey have developed ALIA Health, a research-based spin-off combining artificial intelligence (AI) with clinical evidence to predict breast cancer risk.

The School of Engineering and Sciences and the School of Medicine and Health Sciences have joined forces to create ALIA Health, led by researchers Daly Avendaño, José Tamez, Servando Cardona, and Sadam Hussain.

“ALIA aims to assess personalized breast cancer risk for every woman.

“We want to provide high-risk women with clear guidelines and recommendations on how to manage and monitor their health to ensure that breast cancer is detected early”, said Tamez.

According to the latest INEGI report, breast cancer is the leading cause of death from malignant tumors in Mexico, and 99.2% of those affected are women.

The goal is to identify which women are at high risk of developing breast cancer and which are not.

This enables personalized guidance and health monitoring recommendations to ensure that if cancer develops, it is detected early, increasing the survival rate to 95%.

“Our service is designed around screening mammograms, which in theory, women should begin at age 40. Based on the mammogram, we can inform women: ‘You’re at low risk; keep taking care of yourself, and your next screening should be at age 50”, he added.

For her part, Dr. Avendaño told the publication Pulso Saludable: “As a physician and co-founder of ALIA Health, I believe it is fundamental for artificial intelligence to have a real clinical impact. This platform was born out of medical practice and built on scientific rigor and a clear vision for prevention.” 

In partnership with ÜMA Tech IA, ALIA Health utilizes a specialized model called Mammorisk+ to analyze mammograms.

Conversely, if a high-risk condition is detected, the patient is informed of the need to monitor her health.

“That patient is told: ‘You cannot let your guard down; you must come in every year for a check-up to monitor your health.’ If cancer is present, the goal is to detect it as early as possible, because if caught early, the probability of surviving or overcoming breast cancer is 95%”, said Tamez.

“ALIA aims to assess personalized breast cancer risk for every woman”.- José Tamez

AI and technology for prevention

The team that started this project carried out AI-driven data curation on over 40,000 images sourced from TecSalud, which were then analyzed using the same technology.

This dataset was fed into an artificial intelligence model, specifically the one developed by Sadam, known as Visual Transformers, which analyzes the image patch by patch to identify patterns linked to cancer development.

“AI uncovers subtle patterns that a radiologist might miss due to its immense computing power; it analyzes every pixel, identifying the patterns and unique features correlated with breast cancer risk”, said Dr. Tamez.

The ALIA Health platform is currently accessible via smartphone or computer, allowing both doctors and patients to register and upload mammogram images to determine breast cancer risk.

“We’ve just reached the phase where the platform is ready and the algorithms are live. It’s currently undergoing evaluation, but we still have to conduct the prospective study.

“We’re in the process of raising capital to fund the prospective validation study. Once validated, we can begin our commercialization phase”, he said.

Dr. Tamez Peña is a research scientist with experience in clinical research and the medical device industry. 

He is a founding partner of ALIA Health and IMITEK in Mexico, as well as Qmetrics Technologies in Rochester, New York.

Under Dr. Tamez’s leadership, Qmetrics Technologies secured FDA clearance for KUVIA 3D, a device that aids in the visualization of articular cartilage. 

He is currently a full-time research professor at Tecnológico de Monterrey, where he researches new quantitative image analysis techniques designed to develop innovative medical diagnostics.

Presenting project and winning at InnovaFest 2026

ALIA Health was one of the winning projects at the InnovaFest 2026 entrepreneurship festival.

“We participated in the event, where our technology and the specific problem we aim to solve were evaluated, alongside our use of artificial intelligence to support early-stage healthcare and preventative medicine.

“All of that led the InnovaFest judges to name us the ‘top company’, and we took home the award for best innovation”, he said.

The prize consisted of 250,000 pesos, which were allocated to offset previous development costs for the platform.

InnovaFest was organized by the federal government through the Ministry of Economy.

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