ULTRALIGHT MICROWAVE CATHETER SYSTEM

Microwave catheter technology is being used to perform angioplasty, treat atrial fibrillation, and hyperthermia treatment of cancer. However, traditional transmission of microwave signals has severe performance limitations and safety concerns. Artisan Medical Systems is proposing a next generation microwave catheter with improved microwave performance and enhancement patient and medical personnel safety.

MEDICAL IMAGING TECHNOLOGY

Cancer is the number two cause of death in this country. Annually, over 1 and a quarter of a million cases are detected in the USA with over half a million deaths each year. The annual cost of cancer to our society is over 100 billion dollars- combining the costs of treatment with the cost of diminished and lost productivity.

Breast cancer is the most important cancer for women with over 200,000 new cases annually and over 2 million cancer survivors in the USA. One in 7 American women will develop breast cancer during her lifetime. Breast cancer is the most common cause of cancer death in American women and its incidence has clarly been rising since 1975 and is likely to continue to rise as the population of the USA ages.

To address this important public health problem, Artisan has developed an advanced technique for soft tissue imaging that does not require the use of ionizing radiation. We have also developed a design for a much more comfortable imaging interface that obviates the need for painful breast compression. Moreover our system will be more convenient and economical to use than current techniques such as conventional mammography.

AMS has developed a portfolio of unique intellectual property related to the generation of measurable signal and subsequent image processing. The utilization of these unique technologies in a single system will enable the early detection, accurate location, and, possibly, the determination of a tumor’s histology. When the system demonstrates the ability to obtain this information, then many of the current limitations of X-ray mammography will be overcome. With this improvement in specificity, many unnecessary patient callbacks and biopsies will be eliminated resulting in higher quality, less expensive overall health care.

Applications include:

NON INVASIVE SOFT TISSUE IMAGING WITH GREATLY IMPROVED SENSITIVITY AND SPECIFICITY FOR DETECTION OF DISEASE

• MAMMOGRAPHY
• OCULAR
• THYROID
• TESTICULAR IMAGING

Contact: Dr Frank Lexa for more information at fjlexa@artisanlabs.com