DURHAM, NC – APRIL 2, 2013 – Zenalux Biomedical, Inc., a biomedical diagnostics company, announces a Research Partnership Program for its flagship product, Zenascope™, a patent-protected, photonic system that effectively and non-destructively measures biomarkers in tissue in real time. Through the Research Partnership Program, Zenalux is engaging with thought leaders in pre-clinical research who are using the Zenascope in cancer detection and in monitoring therapy. Application areas to date include accelerating feedback in drug discovery; breast tumor margin assessment; assessment of response to cancer therapy; and screening and diagnostic applications in breast, cervical and head and neck cancer.
Zenascope™ uses standard spectroscopic measurement hardware, proprietary software, and patented algorithms to achieve rapid, quantitative, and non-destructive analysis of biological tissue characteristics (biomarkers) that reflect the underlying function and composition of biological tissue. The system is specifically designed for researchers with little or no spectroscopy background.
“Zenascope is a revolutionary tool that can confidently and easily be used to monitor tissue properties,” said Jesko von Windheim, CEO of Zenalux. “It provides a real-time diagnostic capability that we believe will ultimately change the way clinicians detect disease and monitor therapy. Our goal is to get this tool into the hands of thought leaders in academia and industry through our Research Partnership Program.”
The base Zenascope is designed to measure blood concentration, blood oxygen saturation and scattering (a measure of cell density) in various mouse models. However, the system can be easily customized to other tissues and absorbers including, for example, beta-carotene in the breast and melanin in skin. The purpose of the Research Partner Program is to build collaborations between Zenalux and researchers or clinicians who wish to customize the Zenascope for their specific applications.
A number of pre-clinical and clinical studies have already demonstrated the efficacy of this quantitative diagnostic technique, such as:
• In vivo head and neck study – statistically significant differences in oxygen saturation and oxygenated hemoglobin were identified between malignant and nonmalignant tissues;
• In vivo breast study - showed diffuse reflectance spectroscopy as a quantitative tool to measure oxygenation levels in the vascular compartment of breast cancers in vivo via an optical biopsy technique;
• Pre-clinical head and neck study - the optically derived and immunohistochemical end points in animals with 4T1 tumors showed that the temporal kinetics of dHb concentration and < µ s ' > were highly concordant with those of hypoxic and necrotic fractions, respectively;
• Cervical study - optical spectroscopy is capable of detecting absorption and scattering contrast in the cervix; and
• Breast tumor margin assessment - performance metrics of the system match clinical criteria for margin assessment (sufficient SNR, low errors in extraction of optical properties, low crosstalk).
The Zenalux system achieves rapid, quantitative, and non-destructive analysis of the following biological endpoints: oxy-hemoglobin concentration ([HBO2]); deoxy-hemoglobin concentration ([HHb]); total hemoglobin concentration (THC); blood saturation (SO2); and scatterer size and density.
The Zenalux Research Partner Program offers qualified organizations system and software support for the development and validation of unique applications of the Zenascope platform. Zenascope is currently designated for investigational purposes only. Interested organizations can contact Zenalux at info@zenalux.com or 919-794-5757.
About Zenalux Biomedical, Inc.
Zenalux Biomedical is a biomedical diagnostics start-up company that is developing novel biophotonic-based tools to aid in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer as well as other disease states. The company has established its leadership in biophotonics through its deep ties to Duke University. The company’s flagship product is the Zenascope, a patent-protected, photonic system that non-destructively measures dominant tissue chromophores (such as oxygenated hemoglobin, deoxygenated hemoglobin and beta-carotene) as well as changes in cellular morphology and density. Applications areas currently under study include: accelerating feedback in drug discovery, breast tumor margin assessment, breast biopsy, and cervical cancer and head and neck cancer detection. Zenalux Biomedical is based in Durham, N.C. Visit www.zenalux.com.
