Polarean Imaging (AIM: POLX ) has completed installing a new research unit order for a 9820 Xenon Polariser system at the University of Kansas Medical Center, a major research and teaching hospital.
The medical-imaging technology company said the polariser 9820 Xenon Polariser system will form the cornerstone of a new hyperpolarised 129Xe imaging research programme.
Following its installation, the total number of the Company's polarisers installed is 23.
The University of Kansas Medical Center said it will utilise this latest technology in lung imaging to evaluate and assess response to therapy in its patients with lung disease. The annual burden of pulmonary disease in the US is estimated to be over US$150 billion.
Compared to air that is typically within the lung, hyperpolarized xenon gas enhances the MRI signal by a factor of 100,000, making lung structure and regional ventilation more visible.
The process entails getting the patient to inhale a small quantity of the xenon gas and then undergoing an MRI scan which is typically completed within a 10-20 second breath hold.
Polarean said this ‘significantly higher functional resolution’ provided by this type of MRI ‘is so important to detecting early disease and subtle changes in the progression of disease.’
Shares in Polarean Imaging have salmost doubled over the past three months and opened 1.46% higher at 48.7p following this morning's announcement.
Commenting on the new installation, Richard Hullihen, Chief Executive of Polarean: “We look forward to extending our working relationship with KU Medical Centre as they launch their pulmonary research programmes, thereby expanding the clinical and public health frontiers of hyperpolarised xenon imaging to help clinicians and patients with lung diseases."
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