Clinical testing with hybrid gamma optical camera begins

Serac Imaging Systems, a medical technology company developing a versatile hybrid gamma optical camera for medical imaging, has commenced clinical testing using the Seracam camera. Testing will take place at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York; The Ohio State University; and the University of Malaya, Malaysia.

Seracam is being developed to bring the benefits of high resolution molecular imaging to the bedside, instead of being confined for use in a nuclear medicine imaging department. A further feature is the overlay of a gamma image with an optical image of the same anatomical location. Such imaging technology has the potential to help clinicians make more informed and more timely treatment decisions, Serac says.

The primary objective of the investigator-sponsored studies is to assess the correlation of gamma images obtained using Seracam to those obtained with a current state-of-the-art gamma camera for nuclear medical imaging, each taken from the same patient on the same day. Potential applications to be explored include the thyroid, bone, renal, infection imaging, lymphatic imaging and sentinel lymph node localisation.

The Mount Sinai study is being led by system chief of nuclear medicine Dr Munir Ghesani, associate professor of radiology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and recent president of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging. Dr Ghesani said: “Gamma imaging is a powerful diagnostic tool, yet it is currently available exclusively to patients in a hospital’s nuclear imaging department, which is not always possible for either the patient or physician.

Consequently, we are excited to have the opportunity to evaluate the potential for an alternative portable small field-of-view camera, such as Seracam, in the clinic. This could enable the expansion of this important imaging modality to new patient populations.”

The Malaysian study at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital and the University of Malaya Medical Centre includes up to 150 patients. It is being led by senior lecturer at the university Dr Ng Aik Hao and Professor Yeong Chai Hong at Taylor’s University, Malaysia.

Serac ceo Mark Rosser said: “As well as generating the all-important comparative imaging data, having patient and operator feedback on the user experience is essential as we continue to develop the camera. We are also particularly keen to understand the clinician’s perspective on the potential of this technology to improve clinical practice.”

Picture: Seracam can be taken to the patient’s bedside.

Published on page 18 of the September 2023 issue of RAD Magazine.