A novel technology that will allow transplant surgeons to obtain accurate measurements of liver fat content during donor surgeries has been developed. These results will be immediate and will guide the transplant surgeon in deciding whether the liver is safe to use for transplantation. This will lead to fewer discarded livers, reduce waitlists for liver transplantation and improve the quality of life for many individuals with end-stage liver disease.
A fiber optic Raman system developed by collaborator Dr. Haishan Zeng of the BC Cancer Agency (BCCA) has been applied towards a new use – an improved assessment of the fat content of livers. By applying multivariate statistical approaches with this probe, we have shown the technology improves both the speed and accuracy of the assessment of the hepatic fat content (Hewitt et al. Accurate assessment of liver steatosis in animal models using a high throughput Raman fiber optic probe. Analyst 140, 6602 – 6609 (2015)). A provisional patent was filed on this technology in June 2015, and a PCT application on June 16, 2016.
During PoC studies funded by Springboard we found the Raman
technology developed by BCCA could be re-envisioned into a robust, more cost
effective, and simple to use product.
The new design still uses the BCCA fibre optic bundle but now a simpler
light collection system and more appropriate laser that prevents the salient
features in the scattered light from being obscured has been incorporated into
our alpha version (as funded by Innovacorp ESCF). The new instrument is still retains IP
protection because of the broad patent scope that was initially filed. These
technology enhancements and simplification reduces the cost by a factor of 5
and the resulting retail price from $65,000 to
$18,000.
We are refining the alpha version of our probe using Springboard funding, to build and test the beta prototype of this new technology to consistently meet customer and regulatory (ISO and IEC standards) requirements. Commercialization could take several different forms including a licensing agreement to large pharma, a license to a smaller, already existing BC start-up or our own spin-off company. Providing clinicians access to a tool to rapidly (1 sec), and robustly assess, at the site of retrieval, the suitability of donor livers for transplantation would be widely and positively received in the transplantation community.