NVision Imaging has secured $30m in funding in a Series A round, with an additional $19.5m from the German Government, for advancing the development and deployment of the NVision Polarizer for cancer treatment.

Playground Global led the round, which was also joined by return investors b-to-v and new investors Entree Capital, Pathena Investments, Lauder Family, Sparkassenkapital Ulm and ES Kapital.

These investors brought their total investment to $35m, excluding the government funds.

Existing MRIs identify a cancer therapy’s slow-changing effects at the tissue level, which can take months to expose from the beginning of the treatment.

Metabolic MRIs can spot early changes in major metabolic pathways at the cellular level, which can reveal within days from the commencement of treatment.

These metabolic MRIs depend on polarisation, which facilitates the measurement of natural metabolites.

Compared to traditional polarisers that are slow and difficult to use in the MRI setting, the NVision Polarizer is fast and easy to use.

Leveraging a new parahydrogen-induced polarisation (PHIP) technique, NVision is using advances in quantum physics, chemistry and engineering to improve metabolic MRIs.

NVision already formed a collaboration with Siemens Healthineers to deploy NVision Polarizer systems at more than 50 cancer centres worldwide by 2025.

The company plans preclinical use of quantum metabolic polarisers this year. In the coming years, the funding will be used to deploy the technology for human care.

NVision Imaging CEO Dr Sella Brosh said: “The impact that this technology will have on medicine is monumental.

“With more accessibility to this kind of technology and giving doctors more time to choose the right therapy for treatment, we can significantly improve a patient’s chance of recovery while not subjecting them to toxic treatments that hurt more than they help.”