Surgeons will now be able to see into disease areas contained deep inside the body, such as brain tumours and breast cancers, thanks to technology developed at UWA.
Surgeons will now be able to see into disease areas contained deep inside the body, such as brain tumours and breast cancers, thanks to technology developed at UWA.
A University of Western Australia research team is preparing for the debut of its miniaturised optical imaging probe, known as the microscope-in-a-needle, in operating theatres around the world.
Developed over eight years at UWA alongside the WA Department of Health, the probe has recently been licensed to an Australian medical device company so it can leave the lab and be further refined and commercialised for use by surgeons.
Adelaide-based Miniprobes was granted worldwide development and commercialisation rights for three patent applications associated with the technology last month, and has already received its first order.
Managing director Robert McLaughlin said he and fellow co-founders Rodney Kirk and Bryden Quirk, who shifted to the University of Adelaide last year, formed Miniprobes eleven months ago.
Backed by experience in the medical device industry including a stint as product manager in the UK with Siemens Medical, one of the largest medical device manufacturers in the world, Professor McLaughlin said he had become well versed in commercial practice.
He returned to UWA in 2007, working with Professor David Sampson and a team of engineers and doctors to explore the possibilities of building a tiny microscope in a needle.
“For me, the interest was always in how we could take this technology and turn it into a successful Australian company,” Professor McLaughlin told Business News.
“The core IP we have is in how to make tiny lenses and put them into needles.
“The exciting business opportunity is that it’s opening up new clinical applications and markets for optical imaging. We’re taking these probes into parts of the body and new diseases that were previously inaccessible to optics.”
Development
The technology comprises a tiny fibre-optic imaging probe, which is encased within a hypodermic needle less than 0.7 millimetres in diameter.
Professor McLaughlin said it used light in the same way ultrasound used echoes to build a picture of something deep inside the body.
“We can use light and microscopes to look at people’s skin and inside their airways, but there are diseases in the body, like brain tumours and breast cancers, that we’ve never been able to get light to,” he said.
“Our technology has an optical fibre inside the needle that we pump light down and a tiny lens that focuses that light.
“We shine the light deep into tissue, and by looking at the different reflections we can work out what it is we’re looking at.”
The microscope-in-a-needle. Photo: University of Western Australia.
Professor McLaughlin said the team was initially focused on locating breast cancers during surgery, and soon discovered the technology could also assist with brain tumours.
“It’s not unusual to put a biopsy needle into a patient’s brain and take a sample to understand the type of tumour,” he said.
“The danger is, if the needle hits a blood vessel that can kill the patient.
“We’ve integrated our tiny probe into a standard brain biopsy needle to help surgeons see blood vessels – the needle can warn the surgeon if they’re getting too close, making it much safer for the patient.”
Miniprobes held its first human trial at the end of last year involving 12 neurosurgery patients from Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, in collaboration with both UWA and the University of Adelaide.
“Bringing this technology into a human trial has been an exciting step forward for us, prompting several international medical device manufacturers to take notice of what we have developed here,” he said.
“It’s allowed us to start a lot of commercial conversations.”
He said Miniprobes was positioning itself as an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) for the technology, aiming to work with different medical device manufacturers across a range of diseases.
“Companies can buy our prototyping imaging needle today and use it to see if it can be used in their applications,” he said.
“Our strategy is to then work with the medical device manufacturers to develop a bespoke product that best fits their market.
“What we’re selling is small and high value, it’s the sort of thing we can export to the rest of the world and still manufacture here in Australia.
“And the great thing about needles is they’re the ultimate consumable – music to a medical device manufacturer’s ears.”
