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Benchtop small sized systems for affordable in-vivo molecular imaging

Country of Origin: Greece
Reference Number: TOGR20181012001
Publication Date: 19 October 2020

Summary

A Greek company specialized in the field of biomedical engineering is offering two innovative portable systems for in-vivo imaging of radiolabeled biomolecules and nanoparticles. Both public and private partners, of any size, active in the market of molecular imaging are sought with an interest in establishing a commercial agreement with technical assistance or joint venture agreement.

Description

A Greek SME with significant research and professional experience in the field of biomedical engineering and mainly in the emerging molecular imaging technology has developed two novel systems for in-vivo molecular imaging.  

Molecular imaging is now a standard, efficient tool in clinical and mainly preclinical research for the study of new drugs, biomolecules and nanoparticles. Based on that, the Greek company is focused in the use of radioisotopes to label and image those molecules. Although multimodal imaging systems exist, their purchase and maintenance cost is non affordable to the majority of small and medium research groups. To this direction, they are developing low cost, benchtop imaging systems, which can be easily acquired by any research team working in the field of biotechnology and medical research worldwide.

Currently, two systems are provided which cover the complementary techniques of SPECT (Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography) and PET (Positron Emission Tomography) isotopes. Both systems are benchtop and can fill in the gap between ex-vivo biodistributions and advanced imaging systems. They have a 5x10 cm² field of view, allowing whole-body mice studies and they support static and fast dynamic whole-body imaging. Their size is comparable to a small printer and they can transform a lab desk into an in vivo imaging laboratory. Their small size and weight allow easy transport to other labs for providing imaging services.

Furthermore, the systems operate in planar mode, the most efficient method for fast, in vivo screening. They are also provided with laptop and preinstalled software for data acquisition, archiving, imaging and data analysis, as well as a durable packing suitcase and all components ready for immediate use.

In addition, they can be used as stand-alone imaging systems for whole-body dynamic studies, as well as fast screening of biomolecules before detailed studies. Also, they are the only systems that provide real-time images when the animal is placed on the camera bed and they can be used to detect rather low activities and concentrations.

Moreover, the proposed systems can be used for quality control in imaging before ex vivo biodistributions and pre-screening before multimodal imaging. Finally, they can significantly improve accuracy and statistics and they are in compliance with bioethics and request for animals’ reduction.

Based on all the above, the proposed systems constitute cost effective solutions in terms of instrumentation and services for in-vivo imaging of radiolabeled biomolecules and nanoparticles.

The Greek company is in need of finding partners from both academic and private sectors willing to adopt, deliver or further develop the proposed systems and also provide feedback for optimization for new applications under the context of commercial agreement with technical assistance. Also, private partners are sought to further develop hardware, marketing and international presence. The desired type of cooperation is joint venture agreement.

Advantages and Innovations

The cost of the offered systems is almost an order of magnitude lower than all available solutions in the market, thus the systems can fit in a small project or the budget of a small R&D group.

The systems are simple to use by non-experts, with no special installation and operational requirements.

Additionally, they are the only available screening tool that can be used daily in any lab while their size and weight allows installation in locations that other systems cannot be installed for instance in a hospital.

Moreover, they are the only systems that provide real time images from the first second of the experiment and can be combined with high end multimodal imaging systems.

Lastly, the easy and versatile transportation is quite important and this is achieved mainly by their small size and packaging type. Both systems are delivered in a portable suitcase in which all components are stored (mouse beds, phantoms, cables, laptop and power supply). The suitcase is safe to carry on all means of transport (train, airplane, bus etc.) and is the size of standard luggage.

Stage Of Development

Already on the market

Stage Of Development Comment

The first version of the two systems is ready. Internal R & D and user feedback provides input for upgrades and new features.

Requested partner

The Greek company is interested to conclude commercial agreement with technical assistance. They are searching for academic and research groups, as well as private companies developing and studying new biomolecules, drugs, nanoparticles or disease models, with the scope to purchase the offered systems, use them and provide feedback for further upgrades or optimization for new applications.
Furthermore, the Greek company is also looking for private partners to further develop hardware, marketing and international presence under the context of joint venture agreement.

Cooperation offer is closed for requests