Could this new technology change the face of medical imaging?

New medical imaging technology could change the experience of having a scan for billions of people around the world. It will provide advanced medical imaging, comparable to MRI and CT scans, at a similar cost to an ultrasound scan. The aim is to enable a more cost-effective, accurate and flexible way of characterising tissue for monitoring, diagnosis and treatment than any other medical device on the global market.

This advanced medical imaging technology aims to improve access to quality health diagnostics around the world, making it more easily accessible to the billion plus population in less economically privileged countries. So what is this technology, who has developed it and how does it work? 

UK deep-tech company Sonosine, spun out of the University of Oxford in 2015, has patented the Electro Magnetic Acoustic imaging (EMA) technology, embedded in its first product the Pulsar 1. 

The Pulsar 1 uses EMA technology, to make high-quality medical diagnostics quicker, safer and more comfortable for patients, while providing clinicians with reliable images that enable the best decision making. 

Developed in 2006 at the University of Oxford by Sonosine’s founder and chief technology officer, Professor David Edwards, EMA uses radio signals as well as ultrasound, revealing the tissue types in areas of concern, in a way that ultrasound alone cannot.

Professor Edwards, a physicist and engineer, explained that EMA enables the provision of high-quality images, supporting improved clinical decision making by increasing the amount and quality of information available to help make a diagnosis. 

He said: “EMA uses a combination of a continuous radio signal and an ultrasound transducer to effectively shake very small volumes of tissue in the area of interest scanned and detect the movement of those volumes. The area is scanned in its entirety, and the volume shaken by the ultrasound transducer moves across the tissue from left to right, and up to down, scanning the whole area.

“A radio frequency signal illuminates this area and the detection of its echo return enables differentiation between tissue types within the scanned area. Ultrasound alone, cannot do this. This technique enables clinicians to see problem areas of the body and can identify the accumulation of fluid, calcification, capillarisation, and other tissue differences.”

Sonosine’s advanced medical imaging scanner, the Pulsar 1,  provides a very similar experience to an ultrasound scan for the patient. The scanner, currently in commercial development, will enable clinicians to diagnose and treat their patients at the point of care, removing the need for referrals and medical imaging escalation. 

CEO David Herbada said that the market applications of the EMA technology are very promising with opportunities in sports medicine, trauma and surgery, abdominal and breast imaging, urology and obstetrics and gynaecology. 

He said: “EMA provides immediate point of care, ’in-consultation’, scan results for problem areas. This enables clinicians to avoid imaging referrals, while providing an accurate diagnosis of conditions on the spot.”

Sonosine has secured 30 core patents across the World, tested lab prototypes and carried out further clinical, in-vitro, and in-vivo tests. This has proved that the technique is effective and safe.

The opportunities that the EMA technology and the Pulsar 1 could open up in less economically privileged countries are significant. For instance in Sub-Saharan Africa, a number of factors make it difficult for populations in remote areas to access medical imaging. This includes the cost of healthcare, access to it, infrastructure problems and issues with MRI and CT scanners remaining broken and unrepaired for long periods of time. EMA technology can be embedded into devices more mobile than an MRI or CT scanner, enabling doctors to treat patients in more remote locations. The cost savings that EMA technology provides could lead to advanced medical imaging technology becoming available to many more people in developing countries. 

Over the next few years, Sonosine plans to partner with ultrasound technology providers and develop its commercial EMA ultrasound scanner product, the Pulsar 1. This aims to reduce the complexity and time required to secure approvals from the FDA and attain the CE marking, approval paths that Sonosine are already advanced on. 

The company plans to enter the US medical imaging market with the Pulsar 1 system focusing initially on sport medicine, trauma and orthopaedics. The aim is to follow up by expanding into the EU, UK and Asia Pacific markets to disrupt the medical imaging market.