Unmet Need
Prostate cancer is the second most common type of cancer in American men, behind skin cancer. It is also the second leading cause of cancer deaths in American males, and there is a continuing need for innovation in diagnosis for those at risk for prostate cancer.
After initial diagnostic blood tests for prostate-specific antigens, a prostate biopsy may be done if the blood test comes back positive. The current standards for prostate biopsies includes blind sampling under real-time transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) and, which yields modest resolutions and inefficient cancer detection rates. MRI/ultrasound fusion biopsies are a recent advancement that involves a preoperative MRI of the prostate used alongside transrectal ultrasound improves cancer detection rates up to 90%. However, s fusion biopsies are expensive and prohibitive due to the use of an MRI scanner, which can limit accessibility in developing nations, underfunded medical systems, and patients with contraindicated implants. Therefore, enhancing precision and sensitivity of cost-effective ultrasound-based imaging technology is necessary to improve access to improved prostate biopsy methods.
Technology Overview
Researchers at Johns Hopkins have developed a novel technique for prostate biopsy imaging that utilizes ultrasound alongside tomography to better detect malignant tumors that exhibit different speeds of sound and attenuation coefficients in contrast to the surrounding normal tissue. Their technology is far more accurate than ultrasound alone and is less costly than fusion biopsy, thus improving its availability to patients who don’t have access to or are unable to undergo MRI imaging.
Stage of Development
The inventors have developed the concept and design of the machinery, and in vitro testing has been done. They have also published conference manuscripts on the technology and its proof of principle.
Publications
Seifabadi R, et al. Correlation of ultrasound tomography to MRI and pathology for the detection of prostate cancer. SPIE Medical Imaging. March 15, 2019
Gilroy K, et al. Dual-Robotic Ultrasound System for In Vivo Prostate Tomography. International Workshop on Advances in Simplifying Medical Ultrasound. October 1, 2020
