BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cephalogics today announced study results from a blood-phantom platform that demonstrated the accuracy and sensitivity of the company’s non-invasive, portable brain perfusion imaging system that is designed to provide continuous bedside monitoring of patients suffering from stroke or traumatic brain injury.
Cephalogics, an Allied Minds company (LSE:ALM), has developed a system that utilizes Diffuse Optical Tomography (DOT) to provide bedside imaging of multiple cerebrovascular regions within a patient’s brain. The system’s sensors consist of compact, high-density arrays with numerous near infrared (NIR) light sources and detectors to provide hundreds of simultaneous spatially resolved measurements per region. These measurements are then processed in real time to produce regional maps of the oxygen saturation in cerebral tissue. Each sensor array covers a cerebrovascular area of approximately 40cm2.
The company conducted multiple laboratory experiments to test its system’s performance. The study compared the Cephalogics system’s imaging results to reference measurements by an oxygen probe in a two-layer blood phantom platform. The first layer of the blood phantom represented extra-cerebral tissue (“extra-cerebral” layer, mimicking skin, scalp and skull) at 15mm thickness, and the second layer represented the cerebral tissue (“cerebral” layer). Yeast was added to the blood in the “cerebral” layer to consume the oxygen in the blood and cause desaturation. The Cephalogics system accurately imaged the desaturation, demonstrating sensitivity to oxygen saturation values in the brain layer and insensitivity to the “extra-cerebral” layer. In addition, the results showed strong correlation to the oxygen probe, demonstrating accuracy within normal physiologic ranges for brain tissue.
In a second experiment, researchers added yeast to the “extra-cerebral” layer. The system remained insensitive to extra-cerebral layer desaturation (confirmed by the oxygen probe), while maintaining accuracy of oxygen saturation values in the cerebral layer. Results of the blood phantom study were accepted and presented last week at the Optical Society of America (OSA) conference in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
“In the absence of a reference standard to test the performance of quantitative imaging of cerebral tissue oxygen saturation in vivo, these are key steps towards validating the accuracy of our system,” said Bertan Hallacoglu, PhD, Research and Development Scientist at Cephalogics who is leading the blood phantom experiments. “We were very pleased with the interest and the enthusiasm from the scientific community regarding our new system and the results of the blood phantom experiments.”
Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the U.S., and along with traumatic brain injuries result in billions of dollars spent on healthcare each year. Current methods used to monitor patients and assess oxygen saturation in the brain are typically invasive, focal or require costly, inconvenient and time-consuming transport from a patient’s room. The inability to quickly assess brain perfusion at the bedside can raise the risk of ischemia and associated adverse outcomes in brain-injured patients. Cephalogics aims to provide clinicians with a compact, portable, easy-to-use brain perfusion imaging system in order to identify and treat perfusion deficits to help avoid ischemia and its associated adverse outcomes.
“This study marks an important step forward for Cephalogics and our mission to create a system that gives clinicians the accurate, actionable information they need to detect perfusion deficits. This is the first of several studies we are conducting to test the performance of our system in a variety of environments, including blood phantoms, healthy volunteers, animals and patients,” said Jeff Caputo, General Manager of Cephalogics.
Cephalogics is developing and commercializing an imaging system that’s based on technology invented by Dr. Joseph Culver, a Professor at Washington University and a leading researcher in the field of Diffuse Optical Tomography.
“The results of this study demonstrate the high performance of our brain-imaging system and highlight the important progress Cephalogics has made towards building a commercial system. We are proud of the team’s accomplishments,” said Omar Amirana, MD, Senior Vice President at Allied Minds and a Cephalogics board member.
For more information about Cephalogics, visit www.cephalogics.com.
About Cephalogics
Cephalogics is developing a non-invasive, portable brain perfusion imaging system that is designed to provide clinicians with critical information for detecting and treating perfusion deficits and avoiding ischemia in brain-injured patients. The system is designed to “see” the brain through hair, skin and skull, mapping oxygen saturation in the brain and helping to facilitate early interventions, improve outcomes and reduce healthcare costs. More information about the company can be found at www.cephalogics.com.
About Allied Minds
Allied Minds (LSE:ALM) is an innovative U.S. science and technology development and commercialization company. Operating since 2006, Allied Minds forms, funds, manages and builds products and businesses based on innovative technologies developed at leading U.S. universities and federal research institutions. Allied Minds serves as a diversified holding company that supports its businesses and product development with capital, central management and shared services. More information about the Boston-based company can be found at www.alliedminds.com.
Allied Minds Forward-Looking Statement
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