European Hospital Consortium Aims to Replace Painful Biopsies with Non-Invasive Scans

A consortium of hospitals in Europe has been awarded a multi-million Euro grant to use a new non-invasive MRI technique for the early detection of diseases such as Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD).

The new Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) technique for diagnosing NAFLD is faster, less expensive, less painful, and safer than the existing method of liver biopsy. Current liver biopsies only sample 1/50,000th of the liver.

The MRI technology called LiverMultiScan, was developed by Perspectum Diagnostics (Oxford, UK) and was showcased at the International Liver Congress in Barcelona, Spain, on April 13th to 17th, 2016. LiverMultiScan is non-invasive and can be used by clinicians to accurately measure metrics such as liver fat for the early detection of NAFLD. The LiverMultiScan MRI scan takes 15 minutes. LiverMultiScan has been used in Europe and US for research since 2014. NAFLD is fuelled by the obesity epidemic and affects nearly 25% of Europeans. NAFLD can lead to complications such as cirrhosis, and liver failure. LiverMultiScan MRI is manufactured by Mirada Medical (Oxford, UK), and has been received the CE Mark (Conformité Européenne), and US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance.

Dr Rajarshi Banerjee, CEO of Perspectum Diagnostics, says, "We are delighted that the H2020 funding body recognises the enormous potential for LiverMultiScan to replace unnecessary biopsies. There is a real opportunity here, not only to make significant economic savings at a time when all health services are under pressure, but also to reduce the number of patients having to undergo what can be a stressful and painful procedure."

Related Links:
Perspectum Diagnostics
Mirada Medical