RNS22 Oct 2018 08:55
IQ-AI Limited (IQAI)
IQ-AI Limited
IQ-AI files patent for Contrast-Free Imaging
RNS Number : 6811E
IQ-AI Limited
22 October 2018
IQ-AI Limited
("IQ-AI" or the "Company")
IQ-AI Files Patent for Contrast-Free Imaging
IQ-AI (formerly Flying Brands Limited) has filed a patent for gadolinium-free MR imaging of the brain and other organs.
IQ-AI intends to develop a technology that the Directors believe could completely eliminate the use of gadolinium-based contrast agents in MR imaging procedures. This could result in substantial savings in healthcare systems globally and avoid all of the emerging toxicity concerns associated with contrast agents. This invention is based on Deep Learning (DL) techniques using only non-contrast MR images as inputs.
David Smith, CEO of IQ-AI's operating subsidiaries commented "We are delighted to announce the filing of this patent. We believe the potential exists to develop, for the first time, a contrast agent-free imaging technology that should generate output comparable to traditional contrast-based imaging, offering significant savings to global healthcare systems. We now intend to develop the technology and conduct the clinical work necessary to prepare for worldwide regulatory submissions."
Gadolinium as a contrast agent: background and explanation
Gadolinium has been used for over 30 years as a contrast agent (CA) in imaging to allow health care practitioners to more clearly see abnormal, diseased, and even cancerous tissue.
It is estimated that up to 50% of all magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance angiography rely on the use of an exogenous contrast materials or agents, with gadolinium- based contrast agents (CAs) being the most common. CAs are administered intravenously and, when subjected to a magnetic field, enhance the diagnostic quality of MR scans by improving their sensitivity and/or specificity. MRI contrast injections improve diagnostic accuracy in some conditions, such as inflammatory and infectious diseases of the brain, spine, soft tissues and bones, by making images clearer so that the radiologist can better identify the location and extent of disease. The nature and extent of some cancers and benign tumours is best seen and assessed after an injection of CA. Also scans showing the function of blood vessels in real time can be carried out using CA's and many heart abnormalities can only be fully assessed with CAs.
Gadolinium is a rare earth metal. Compounds of gadolinium, in solution, are used as enhancing agents for MR imaging procedures due to their magnetic properties, and the way that they become concentrated in abnormal tissues in the brain and other body organs. Within the last 10 years, gadolinium-based products have been highlighted in numerous clinical papers showing their potential toxicity, retention in the human body for many years, and their potential to induce nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF) in a small number of patients, partic