A breast cancer diagnostics startup that offers an ancillary imaging system to use on top of standard mammography just raised $6.5 million, according to regulatory filings.
New Hampshire-based Gamma Medica has developed a tool, called the LumaGEM, that’s meant as a secondary diagnostic tool for women with dense breast tissue. It’s more difficult for mammograms to discern the cancerous tissue from the healthy when a women has dense breasts – so Gamma Medica’s molecular functional imaging helps doctors view the region from a different perspective.
Patients are injected with a radioactive tracer that preferentially accumulates in cancer cells, Gamma Medica says, and isn’t influenced by breast density.
When Investment Rhymes with Canada
Canada has a proud history of achievement in the areas of science and technology, and the field of biomanufacturing and life sciences is no exception.
The LumaGem was tested in a proof-of-principle study of 936 women with dense breast tissue, and researchers found the combination of mammography with the new device was much more sensitive – 91 percent with dual testing versus 27 percent with just mammography.
The machine received Food and Drug Administration 510(k) clearance in 2011, and is currently being used around the country. The imaging technique has a number of applications – from cancer detection to breast implant monitoring to surgical planning, Gamma Medica says.
