The biopsy and treatment of lung cancer in a single hospital visit
Reducing time-to-treat from weeks to minutes; relieving hospital pressures, improving patient outcomes
Prothea Technologiesis a private medical technology company with a
vision to offer 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 is developing a medical device consisting of a Microendoscope
combined with an Image Processing System, which enhances visualisation
by providing in situ analysis of lesion structure at a molecular level
alongside the biopsy tool. Further R&D is planned to develop a
laser ablation catheter for the treatment of lesions immediately
following visualisation and biopsy. The integration of these two systems
(real-time imaging and ablation) will 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.
Additional R&D programmes will integrate its Imaging Processing System
with robotic surgery systems and other medical imaging modalities.
Prothea's Image Processing Systems measure the differential in time,
between healthy and abnormal tissue, for the round trip of light from
the laser source and back again. Proprietary software will be developed,
enhanced by artificial intelligence, to evaluate these large volume data
sets to develop real-time in-procedure insight, supporting clinical
decisions.