QT Imaging, the University of Illinois, and the Sunnybrook Research Institute Receive $3.1 Million National Cancer Institute Grant for Breast Cancer Treatment Monitoring
The QTscan to be used to improve the assessment of tumor response in neo-adjuvant chemotherapy treatments
NOVATO, CA, October 13, 2022 – QT Imaging, Inc., a medical imaging company focused on the development and clinical adoption of novel products for breast cancer imaging, today announced the award of a five-year National Cancer Institute grant to study the progress of neo-adjuvant therapy for women with breast cancer using the QTscan. The grant will use QT Imaging’s Breast Scanning System enhanced with reflection back-scatter algorithms developed by the University of Illinois to assess tumor response to treatment in days rather than weeks or months. The study is a collaboration of Dr. James Wiskin, Principal Scientist at QT Imaging, Prof. Michael Oelze in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), and Dr. Gregory Czarnota from the Radiation Oncology Department of the Sunnybrook Research Institute in Toronto, Canada.
Only some women benefit from early-stage chemotherapy for breast cancer. While there are tests to determine who is likely to benefit, there are no FDA-approved tests to determine if applying these early treatments is working other than long-term repeated standard medical imaging. This grant project is designed to use more accurate imaging technology and software to improve the assessment of the efficacy of these neo-adjuvant chemotherapy treatments. The QT Imaging system does not use ionizing radiation or contrast agents and can be safely used to image the breasts of women undergoing neo-adjuvant chemotherapy treatments at repeated short intervals to accurately (+ 0.2%) measure tumor volumes and quantify tumor state based on their sound speed and backscatter properties.
“Currently, if a breast cancer patient does not respond to the initial chemotherapy regimen, there may be little recourse for adjusting the therapy regimen to the benefit of the patient because the lack of response is not identified early on during the course of therapy. By identifying response or lack of response early on during the course of therapy, physicians will be able to adjust therapy approaches and thereby improve outcomes,” said Dr. Michael Oelze.
“We are encouraged by the continued high performance of QT imaging in breast imaging, and these results will demonstrate the clinical value of QT’s low frequency transmitted sound volography as a high-resolution imaging modality, specifically in the context of tumor monitoring and response to neo-adjuvant chemotherapy. We gratefully acknowledge the NIH-NCI in their generous acknowledgement of the potential of this unique confluence of technologies with Dr. Czarnota and Dr. Oelze, recognized leaders in their fields,” said Dr. James Wiskin, Principal Scientist at QT Imaging.
About QT Imaging, Inc.
QT Imaging™ is a privately held company engaged in the research, development, and commercialization of an innovative automated imaging system producing high-resolution transmission ultrasound images. The company has received FDA 510(K) clearance for its QT Imaging Breast Scanner. The company’s clinical trials have been conducted at prestigious institutions in the US and Europe, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has supported the development of the technology with over $18 MM in grants.
The QT Imaging Breast Scanner is indicated for use as an ultrasonic imaging system to provide reflection-mode and transmission-mode images of a patient’s breast. The QT scanner software also calculates the breast fibroglandular volume and total breast volume. The device is not intended to be used as a replacement for screening mammography. FDA 510k K162372 and K220933
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