Press release +

First in Human Study Results presented at AABIP

Prothea Technologies™, the Image-Guided Lung Cancer Therapy company, is pleased to announce the findings of the Precision Lung clinical study (ISRCTN15093468), demonstrating the potential for its imaging technology to provide molecular guidance during bronchoscopy. The findings were presented by Dr Adam Marshall, Consultant Physician in Respiratory Medicine at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, UK and Principal Investigator, at the 9th Annual Conference of the American Association for Bronchology and Interventional Pulmonology, on 21 August 2026.

The single-centre feasibility study prospectively enrolled 21 participants undergoing clinically indicated bronchoscopy for suspected lung malignancy. The investigational Imaging System combined a single-use 1.9 mm-diameter Eyes on Target Imaging & Access Catheter with KronoScan™ Label-free Molecular Imaging.

The principal end points were Safety, Procedural Success and change in Molecular Signature¹ at a malignant lesion.

A significant change in the Molecular Signature was observed in 17 out of 18 of the malignant lesions, replicating the findings of the published pre-clinical research².

Imaging was successfully acquired at the target lesion, across all regions of the lung, in all 20 participants who underwent the research procedure. There were no device-related adverse events. FLIM imaging added less than five minutes to each procedure.

In one case, a Rapid On Site Evaluation (“ROSE”) was successfully completed, confirming a viable biopsy sample ex vivo; and establishing the principle of dual use of a single catheter. Most participants underwent the procedure using local anaesthetic, one participant was treated under general anaesthetic, and a cryobiopsy was successfully performed.  Two participants had benign disease and the research procedure was not performed in one participant.

The investigational System identified the molecular changes without the useof additional labels or ionising radiation. The technology has been enhanced since the clinical study and the findings have now been replicated in ex vivo tissue evaluations using an upgraded Prothea Imaging System.

Recent experiments showed no loss of imaging in the presence of biopsy-related bleeding, supporting the potential advantage of direct-contact imaging over lens-based systems that image from a distance.

Dr Adam Marshall, Consultant Physician and Principal Investigator commented:

“From an operator’s perspective, the technology integrated well into the bronchoscopy workflow. Imaging added less than five minutes to the procedure and the Imaging and Access catheter was compatible with our standard biopsy instruments”.

Professor Kev Dhaliwal, Prothea Technologies’ Chief Scientific and Chief Medical Officer; and Professor of Molecular Imaging at the University of Edinburgh, commented:

“Molecular imaging moves bronchoscopy beyond anatomical guidance, enabling cancer detection and characterisation at the point of care, and guiding precision biopsy and ablation.”

The Precision Lung study was co-sponsored by The University of Edinburgh and NHS Lothian.

The Prothea Imaging System is in development and, at the date of this release, is not commercially available. 

For further information, please contact:

Dr. Anne Moore, COO
Email: [email protected]

About Prothea

Prothea Technologies is a private medical technology company developing a novel image-guided therapy and a vision of lung cancer biopsy and treatment in a single hospital visit.

Lung cancer is the third most common form of cancer in the U.S. and annually claims more lives than breast, prostate and colon cancer combined. Screening programmes aim to facilitate the early detection of suspicious lesions, but delivering value from these initiatives requires a significant increase in biopsy performance, presenting a challenge for hospitals already grappling with low biopsy yields and false negatives.

Prothea Technologies, a spin-out company from the Universities of Edinburgh and Bath, in-licensed several patents from these institutions as part of a Series A financing in 2024. Prothea’s novel bronchoscopy system is initially focused on patients requiring a biopsy, with abnormal lung lesions per CT scan. The technology combines innovative microscopic optical fibres, next generation fluorescence imaging and biopsy instruments to deliver adjacent image capture and tissue characterisation at the molecular level.

A laser Ablation System is in development for the treatment of lesions immediately following visualisation and biopsy. The integration of these two systems (real-time imaging and ablation) is intended to streamline biopsy and treatment into a single hospital visit, reducing time-to-treat from weeks to minutes, thereby relieving hospital pressures and improving patient outcomes.

The Prothea Imaging and Biopsy system and the Ablation System are in development and are not currently cleared for use in any country.

The Company’s clinical pipeline also includes a well-advanced program supported by Wellcome, for the early identification of specific lung infections in intensive care patients, enabling earlier selection of optimal drug therapy.

¹ Measured with Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Microscopy (FLIM) – change characterised by areas of reduced fluorescence lifetime and lower fluorescence intensity.

² Fernandes S, et al. Fibre-based fluorescence-lifetime imaging microscopy: a real-time biopsy guidance tool for suspected lung cancer. Transl Lung Cancer Res. 2024