MILAN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today at the joint meeting of International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) and the European Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine and Biology (ESMRMB), GE announced the introduction of SPINlab, a hyperpolarizing system that enables the visualization of metabolic activity at the cellular level using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The system simplifies MRI research of metabolism by providing reliable access to hyperpolarized compounds in a dedicated unit. SPINlab is the inaugural product of Research Circle Technology Inc. (RCT), which GE launched in 2011 to enhance development of innovative technology, in collaboration with leading scientists.
The hyperpolarization system that was first used several years ago needed an entire clean room; additionally, it required significant amounts of liquid helium to operate and several operators working in concert. SPINlab is now the first high-throughput, fully-automated hyperpolarizer requiring minimal helium. It has an integrated fluid path, quality control system and simultaneously hyperpolarizes multiple samples of pyruvate or other compounds to produce imaging agents.
Almost all the major diseases are in some way linked to metabolic alterations. The introduction of SPINlab has expanded new possibilities to study non-invasively the biochemical changes in disease processes by improving the sensitivity of MRI by more than 20,000-fold1. By using SPINlab, researchers can study the real-time metabolism of disease, moving beyond morphology and functionality to reveal visual information about the flow, perfusion, metabolism and organ and cell viability in living creatures. Because SPINlab enables non-invasive imaging of metabolic pathways, it allows researchers to better study treatment monitoring and earlier disease detection.
Already, global leaders of imaging technology and disease detection research have explored potential applications for metabolic imaging technology.
- University of California – San Francisco’s (UCSF) Surbeck Laboratory for Advanced Imaging completed a 31-patient study performed by scientists at UCSF and their collaborators. “We now have a safe dose for patients – that was our primary goal,” said Sarah J. Nelson, PhD, a UCSF professor of radiology and director of the Surbeck Laboratory of Advanced Imaging at UCSF, who was lead author on the study and led a diverse team on this project. These findings appeared online in the August 14, 2013 issue of Science Translational Medicine.
- Scientists at Cancer Research UK’s Cambridge Research Institute have developed a technique to show the effectiveness of cancer treatment weeks earlier than current methods through metabolic imaging. “We think this technique may be able to guide therapy,” said lead research professor Kevin Brindle. “We are hoping that it will lead to patients not having to take drugs that will not work for them. There are treatment choices - some people respond really well to one treatment, and others don’t. The standard method for assessing whether a treatment has worked is for a patient to take a course of treatment and then determine whether the tumour has shrunk or not. This new technique could allow doctors to tell much more quickly whether a treatment is working.”
“For the past few years, RCT has engaged an open collaboration network of the world’s leading researchers as they studied the applications of hyperpolarized C-13 technology,” said Jonathan A. Murray, managing director, Research Circle Technology. “The SPINlab platform is a tangible result of that effort; it is the industrialized solution they asked for.”
“RCT is proving to be an effective way to work with researchers,” said Richard Hausmann, president and CEO of GE Healthcare, MRI and member of the board of directors of RCT. “We have been collaborating with sites around the world on this cutting-edge technology that enables their metabolic research. We are very excited to see the results coming from their labs and look forward to future developments that will improve our understanding of cellular metabolic activity.”
Through RCT, GE looks to continue providing the tools, services and solutions so researchers can focus on their investigations into the biochemistry of metabolism and accelerate the discovery of potentially life-saving knowledge.
*Output of this equipment may only be used for human applications under an approved research study (IND or equivalent). SPINlab is not a medical device.
1 Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences 2003
About Research Circle Technology, Inc.
Research Circle Technology Inc. (RCT) was created to accelerate and enhance the development of new technology. This, wholly-owned entity combines GE Healthcare’s industry presence, GE Global Research’s world-class research and technology and GE Technology Ventures’ expertise in intellectual property and licensing partnerships. With a focus on open innovation and collaborative partnerships with leading researchers, RCT redefines the way GE delivers solutions to the healthcare industry.
