Cephalogics Launches Infant Neuroimaging Study
08-Dec-2008
Boston, Massachusetts - Cephalogics, LLC announced today the launch of a pilot study involving 40 infants to optimize the performance of the company’s new neuroimaging system that can non-invasively detect alterations in normal brain function and development. The launch was approved after successful engineering and test of the neuroimaging cap, translational algorithms and display hardware.
Premature infants are particularly vulnerable to brain-related disease; therefore, Cephalogics has set its sights on helping clinicians detect and treat infant brain injury early by making it possible to monitor brain function at infants’ incubators using a novel technology called diffuse optical tomography (DOT).
“DOT fills a functional gap in the neurologic imaging suite of modalities available now,” explains Dr. Joseph Culver, founder of Cephalogics and an assistant professor of radiology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. “Unlike MRI where patients must be moved to a fixed central scanning facility, DOT provides portable, real-time, continuous bedside imaging. It’s non-ionizing, so it doesn’t have the radiation concerns of PET or CT, and it reports brain function with measures of hemodynamics and metabolism, which differentiates it from ultrasound and CT.”
DOT is a computational imaging approach which significantly outperforms standard near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). Both use fiber-optic source and detector pairs to send and receive light through tissue. The resultant brain images are produced by hemoglobin and deoxyhemoglobin absorbing light during transmission. The Cephalogics system however uses a much denser array of optical fibers to obtain superior images when compared against NIRS. Our high-density DOT (HD-DOT) neuroimaging cap comfortably fits over an infant’s head to help ensure strong images. “HD-DOT is able to acquire depth information and lateral resolution with high brain signal and low scalp-and-skull noise that NIRS is incapable of generating,” states Marc Eichenberger, CEO of Cephalogics.
The infant study is being conducted in two phases. In the first phase, 20 term infants are being scanned at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. Cephalogics’ R&D team will use the scans to develop real-time DOT protocols for neuroimaging in infants, establish sensory stimulus paradigms, and optimize data analysis routines by early March 2009. Upon completion, the team will scan 20 pre-term infants in their incubators in the NICU (Neo-natal intensive care unit) at St. Louis Children’s Hospital to obtain and assess system performance data through May 2009. Eichenberger further commented, “We are very pleased with the milestones achieved by the team, and excited at the prospect of helping infants live healthier lives.”
About Cephalogics, LLC and Allied Minds, Inc.
Cephalogics, LLC is a privately-held startup company formed by Allied Minds, Inc. to commercialize the high-density diffuse optical tomography (HD-DOT) neuroimaging device technology originally developed at Washington University in St. Louis by Dr. Joseph Culver. For more information, please visit the Cephalogics website: www.cephalogics.com
Allied Minds, Inc. is the premier seed organization for early-stage technology. The company focuses on converting academic discoveries into commercial reality by working exclusively with a network of U.S. universities and national labs. By filling the gap between government grants and traditional venture capitalists, Allied Minds focuses on funding innovations with significant transformative potential. Instead of managing funds, the company fosters early-stage companies through to success, generating value for all stakeholders. Allied Minds has a nationwide footprint with offices in Boston, Seattle, Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles, and a European presence in London, United Kingdom. Website: www.alliedminds.com
For additional information contact;
Marc Eichenberger, CEO
Cephalogics LLC, an Allied Minds Company
(781) 353-6404
marc.eichenberger@alliedminds.com
