The company, originally a spin-out from the University of Bristol, has secured additional funding from both existing and new angel investors together with matched funding from the Government backed Angel CoFund.

Following a third successful clinical trial, the system that will allow women of all ages to be screened for breast cancer in GP surgeries, or alternative High Street locations, has now commenced a significantly larger clinical trial en route to developing a commercial system for its initial market application. The emerging system captures, in just eight seconds, high-resolution, 3D images through the use of harmless radio waves.

This round’s investment will fund further targeted improvements of the imaging system’s performance, the collection of a critical mass of validating clinical data at Bristol’s Southmead Hospital and the staffing up for product development and early work on the necessary processes that will enable future regulatory approval.

Micrima executive chairman Roy Johnson said: “We are delighted to have raised our maximum target for this round and will now move up the gears on multiple fronts en route to developing our first product.”

“The challenge is now all about building an increasingly valid and impressive clinical data base that will convince the radiology community for each application we choose to target.”

Nick Simmonds of YFM Equity Partners said: “We are very impressed with the level of clinical performance already demonstrated by the system and look forward to working with Roy Johnson and our new co-investors to take the company forward.”

Meanwhile, Stephen Brooke of Swarraton Partners added: “We are delighted to continue to support Micrima on the back of the excellent clinical results achieved to date.”

The MARIA imaging system is not only safer and cheaper than current breast screening methods, it should also provide more reliable results in younger women who are overlooked for screening at present, with the additional benefit of being more comfortable for women undergoing the test.

The MARIA technique uses an innovative radar system developed from land mine detection by a team at Bristol University led by Professor Ian Craddock, Professor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, and Professor Alan Preece, Emeritus Professor of Medical Physics. The project is founded on Professor Ralph Benjamin’s pioneering work on microwave focusing.

The latest clinical trial, completed in 2011, showed a diagnostic success rate of around 80% and already represents a strong competitor to X-ray mammography in dense tissue. The team are aiming for a success rate of over 90%.

Breast cancer is the most common cause of death in women between the ages of 35 and 55 in Europe, and the leading cause of death in many countries. Early diagnosis dramatically improves survival rates, yet most tumours are not discovered early enough – particularly in younger women.

The company, originally a spin-out from theUniversityofBristol, has secured fresh funding from a syndicate of experienced business angels alongside further investment from existing investors YFM Equity Partners and Swarraton Partners.

It is developing a breast imaging system – developed from a landmine detection project – that captures, in just eight seconds, high-resolution, 3D images through the use of harmless radio waves.

The safe, low-cost system enables women of all ages to be screened for breast cancer in GP surgeries, or alternative high street locations, with results that are now comparable with traditional X-ray mammograms.

The new investment will fund further improvements of the MARIA (Multistatic Array processing for Radiowave Image Acquisition) system’s performance and collect a critical mass of validating clinical data at Bristol’s Southmead Hospital.

This work will then allow the company move into full product development and distribution.

Micrima executive chairman Roy Johnson said: “Much of the make-or-break technical risk has been addressed, although with this new finance we plan to improve performance even more in some very specific areas.

“The challenge is now all about building an increasingly valid and impressive clinical data base that will convince the radiology community for each application we choose to target.”

Nick Simmonds of YFM Equity Partners said: “We are very impressed with the level of clinical performance already demonstrated by the system and look forward to working with Roy Johnson and our new co-investors to take the company forward.”

Meanwhile, Stephen Brooke of Swarraton Partners added: “We are delighted to continue to support Micrima on the back of the excellent clinical results achieved to date.”

The MARIA imaging system is not only safer and cheaper than current breast screening methods, it should also provide more reliable results in younger women who are overlooked for screening at present, with the additional benefit of being more comfortable for women undergoing the test.

The MARIA technique uses an innovative radar system developed from land mine detection by a team atBristolUniversityled by Professor Ian Craddock, Professor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, and Professor Alan Preece, Emeritus Professor of Medical Physics. The project is founded on Professor Ralph Benjamin’s pioneering work on microwave focusing.

The latest clinical trial, completed in 2011, showed a diagnostic success rate of around 80% and already represents a strong competitor to X-ray mammography in dense tissue. The team are aiming for a success rate of over 90%.

Breast cancer is the most common cause of death in women between the ages of 35 and 55 inEurope, and the leading cause of death in many countries. Early diagnosis dramatically improves survival rates, yet most tumours are not discovered early enough – particularly in younger women.

Developed by Micrima, a spin-out from Bristol University, the revolutionary new screening technology – developed from a land mine detection project – now takes just eight seconds to provide a three-dimensional breast scan that provides results that are comparable with X-ray mammograms.

However, the MARIA system is not only safer and cheaper than current breast screening methods, it should also provide more reliable results in younger women who are overlooked for screening at present, with the additional benefit of being more comfortable for women undergoing the test.

The team behind Micrima is now raising new funding to help them achieve their goal of commercialising the targeted product – making breast cancer scans as normal as a dental or eye check-up.

Five UK national newspapers covered the story, as well as national TV news (ITV Daybreak), BBC World, and local and regional outlets.

NEWSPAPERS
Daily Mail
Daily Express
Metro
The Mirror
The Times
Western Daily Press

ONLINE
Huffington Post UK
AOL UK
Health in Heels
Health Daily
Indian Express
Bristol24-7
Medical Xpress

TV AND RADIO
ITV Daybreak
BBC World Service News
Heart FM

Developed by Micrima, a spin-out from Bristol University, the revolutionary new screening technology – developed from a land mine detection project – now takes just eight seconds to provide a three-dimensional breast scan that provides results that are comparable with X-ray mammograms.

However, the MARIA (Multistatic Array processing for Radiowave Image Acquisition) system is not only safer and cheaper than current breast screening methods, it should also provide more reliable results in younger women who are overlooked for screening at present, with the additional benefit of being more comfortable for women undergoing the test.

The team behind Micrima is now raising new funding to help them achieve their goal of commercialising the targeted product – making breast cancer scans as normal as a dental or eye check-up.

Roy Johnson, Executive Chairman of Micrima, said: “The new 3D breast screening platform under development aims to be safer, more convenient and more economically viable in a greater number of countries, in addition to providing a practical solution to screening women below the age of 50.”

Breast cancer is the most common cause of death in women between the ages of 35 and 55 inEurope, and the leading cause of death in many countries. Early diagnosis dramatically improves survival rates, yet most tumours are not discovered early enough – particularly in younger women.

National breast screening programmes, using X-ray mammography, are the front-line weapon in the fight to improve survival statistics. But the equipment is bulky, expensive and involves uncomfortable compression of the breast in order to produce results.

Meanwhile, only women aged over 50 in theUKare invited by the NHS for regular screening, and then only every three years.

X-ray mammography also suffers from relatively high missed and false detection rates and tends to have poor results in the denser breast tissue associated with younger, pre and peri-menopausal women.

The latest phase of the clinical trial involved women atFrenchayHospital’s Breast Care Centre inBristol, as well asSouthmeadHospital, also inBristol.

Dr Mike Shere, breast specialist atSouthmeadHospitalsaid: “We are very excited about the potential of this completely new method of breast imaging. It has none of the disadvantages of the current methods, ultrasound, mammography and MRI. It is quick, safe, comfortable and cheap, and is already producing good images with high sensitivity.”

The MARIA technique uses an innovative radar system developed from land mine detection by a team atBristolUniversityled by Professor Ian Craddock, Professor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, and Professor Alan Preece, Emeritus Professor of Medical Physics. The project is founded on Professor Ralph Benjamin’s pioneering work on microwave focusing.

This trial, completed in 2011, showed a diagnostic success rate of around 80% and already represents a strong competitor to X-ray mammography in dense tissue. The team are aiming for a success rate of over 90%.

The company is now actively raising new funding to the take the product development forward to its next stage. Mr Johnson added: “Much of the make-or-break technical risk has been addressed, although we will want to, and plan to, improve performance even more in some very specific areas.

“The challenge is now all about building an increasingly valid and impressive clinical data base that will convince the radiology community for each application we choose to target.”