Clarix Imaging has raised $10m in funding from Swiss investment firm kineo finance.

The Chicago-headquartered company, already backed by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has developed image reconstruction technology, which it is applying to breast cancer imaging.

Clarix Imaging’s volumetric specimen imaging system is a point-of-care 3D imaging platform that provides margin visualisation in breast cancer surgeries. The product, called VSI-360, received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance in 2019. Software installed on the device allows surgeons to visualise tumours in thin slices without other tissues obscuring the margins.

Lumpectomy – the surgical procedure to remove only the cancer from the breast as opposed to a mastectomy – can have high rates of second surgeries. Once doctors analyse the removed tissue, the presence of positive margins means there is still cancerous tissue in the breast.

Further surgery is called a re-excision lumpectomy – according to a study, around 25% of women require this. Analysis of the tissue can take up to a week, whereas Clarix Imaging’s device enables real-time assessment of specimens in the operating room.

The global diagnostic imaging market is expected to reach $45.8bn by 2030.

Clarix Imaging CEO and co-founder, Xiao Han said: “This [partnership] will help us increase production and provide innovative financing solutions to make our groundbreaking technology accessible to healthcare facilities in the United States and, eventually, in international markets.”

Also in the lumpectomy cancer margin space is Lumicell’s handheld probe. The FDA is currently reviewing the detection device that can identify any remaining cancer says in the breast cavity during lumpectomies.  

Every October marks Breast Cancer Awareness Month, an annual campaign that aims to raise awareness about the impact of breast cancer, its treatment and prevention.