Michelson Diagnostics targets malignant melanoma using OCT imaging with €2.3M EU funding

Portfolio company Michelson  Diagnostics,  the  UK  based  medical  device  company focused on multi-beam Optical Coherence Tomography (‘OCT’) technology, announces that the European  Union  has  awarded  a  €2.26  million  Framework  7  grant  to  a  consortium  of  seven  partners, towards the cost of a project targeting malignant melanoma with OCT imaging.

Using Michelson Diagnostics’ OCT imaging system, VivoSight, the project, named 'ADVANCE' (Automatic Detection  of  VAscular  Networks  for  Cancer  Evaluation), aims  to  demonstrate  that  multi-beam  OCT imaging can be used to assess the aggressiveness of melanomas quickly and efficiently.  Michelson Diagnostics is the lead partner in the ADVANCE project.

Melanoma  is  the  most  dangerous  skin  cancer,  killing  over  20,000  people  per  year  in  Europe  alone.  The incidence of melanoma is increasing, especially in young women, which is thought to be due to increasing exposure to the sun and UV light.

VivoSight already enables clinicians to non-invasively view all the layers of the skin in much greater detail than is possible with other technologies, potentially revolutionising how dermatologists make diagnostic and treatment decisions.

VivoSight scanners will be used to collect real-time, high definition images of melanomas, which will be analysed to detect vessels that supply them, and then displayed to the clinicians as 3D maps of the vessels  surrounding  the  tumours.   Cancers  induce  the  development  of  new  vessels  to  support  their growth, and detection of these abnormal vessel patterns will enable clinicians to distinguish between tumours that are potentially metastatic, from those that are at an earlier stage.

Michelson Diagnostics is developing the core vessel detection algorithms, and collaborating with two industrial partners in the development of the new technology.  EG Technology Ltd of Cambridge, based in the UK, will support further hardware design of the OCT scanner, and Technology Partnership doo, based in Belgrade, Serbia, will support the development of the visualization software.

Jon Holmes, Chief Executive Officer of Michelson Diagnostics, said: “We are delighted to be the lead partner in the ADVANCE project.  We believe this will be a significant development in the non-invasive diagnosis  and  monitoring  of  diseases  and  conditions  that  affect  the  skin.    The  capability  to  provide images of fine blood vessels in skin is likely to have many other clinical applications, such as monitoring treatment of inflammatory diseases and wound healing.”