Angel investors with another $100,000 available to the Company through grants and loans. NovaScan, located at the
A co-winner of the first annual Governor’s Business Plan contest in 2004, NovaScan said that the money is
being used to finance the production and testing of a prototype breast cancer imaging device. This device, which identifies tissue types inside the breast based on their electrical properties, is designed to augment X-ray mammography.
According to co-founder and CEO Larry Wells, the Company has conducted in vitro measurements on
breast tissue acquired from surgical biopsies, lumpectomies and mastectomies. “This has allowed us to catalog the different electrical properties of breast tissues and tumors and the next step is in vivo scanning of patients who are scheduled for a biopsy,” Wells said. “This will help us evaluate the ability of our technology to distinguish malignant from benign tumors and lay the ground work for broader clinical trials and regulatory testing,” added Dr. William Gregory, founder and chief scientist. NovaScan expects to begin clinical feasibility testing at an area hospital in September and it will include up to 50 patients.
According to the Company, with about 213,000 new breast cancer cases each year in the
Eventually, the Company hopes to reduce or negate the need for invasive procedures such as biopsies.
“Our technology if used at the breast cancer screening stage could save the health care system millions of dollars per year and it has the potential to be expanded for use in the detection of cancers in other parts of the body,” said Wells.
