MARS Bioimaging
IndustryHealth care
Radiology
Manufacturing
FoundedSeptember 2007
FounderPhilip Butler, Anthony Butler
Headquarters
Christchurch, New Zealand
,
New Zealand
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Philip Butler, CEO
ProductsCT, spectral photon-counting CT
ServicesMedical equipment
Technology for drug discovery and biopharmaceuticals
Solutions for clinicians and health care administrators
Websitewww.marsbioimaging.com

MARS Bioimaging Limited (MBI) is a medical imaging company focusing on spectral photon counting computed tomography for quantitative color imaging.[1] The company was founded in Christchurch, New Zealand to commercialize the MARS imaging system for its applications in medicine.

History

MARS Bioimaging Limited was founded in September 2007[2] by father and son professors, Phillip and Anthony Butler to develop x-ray imaging that captures and processes information from individual x-ray photons, producing quantitative 3D color imaging at very high resolution (50-200 μm).[3][4][5] MARS imaging systems are based on the new generation Medipix chip licensed out of CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research), Switzerland[2] and technology developed by the University of Canterbury (UC), and other partners.[6]

Funding for research began in 2003, with a NZ$500,000 grant from the New Economy Research Fund. This fund enabled New Zealand universities to join CERN, including .

NZ$1.5 million grant from the Tertiary Education Commission - Infrastructure Development Fund was awarded to MBI after forming in 2007, followed by a NZ$4.5 million manufacturing award from the Foundation for Research Science and Technology to developing a small animal spectral scanner for researchers.

In 2011, MBI released its first small-bore spectral CT scanner for CT researchers[7] and remains the only company in the world with a commercially available preclinical spectral photon-counting CT scanner.[8]

In February 2014, MBI raised more than NZ$500,000 in series A capital financing led by Powerhouse Ventures (PowerHouse).[7] Series B funding in March 2015, again led by PowerHouse Ventures, raised another NZ$500,000.[9]

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) awarded MBI a High Value Manufacturing award, worth NZ$13 million over 2014-2021.

Since October 2015, Callaghan Innovations has supported MBI in employing MARS researchers through a number of Research and Development Career Grants.[9]

In November 2018, the CEO of MBI was the first living human scanned by a MARS system,[10] followed by the first patient scanned early 2020.[1] On November 16, 2020, MBI announced international clinical trials of their compact, point-of-care MARS system for diagnosing hand and wrist injuries would begin early 2021.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "New 3D colour X-rays made possible with CERN technology". CERN. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  2. 1 2 "Medipix: From particles to patients". CERN. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  3. ↑ "Kiwi scientists revolutionising x-ray scanning technology | Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment". www.mbie.govt.nz. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  4. ↑ "2018 News Items". Website. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  5. ↑ Walsh, M F; Opie, A M T; Ronaldson, J P; Doesburg, R M N; Nik, S J; Mohr, J L; Ballabriga, R; Butler, A P H; Butler, P H (21 January 2011). "First CT using Medipix3 and the MARS-CT-3 spectral scanner". Journal of Instrumentation. 6 (1): C01095. Bibcode:2011JInst...6.1095W. doi:10.1088/1748-0221/6/01/c01095. ISSN 1748-0221. S2CID 250678034.
  6. ↑ Schioppa, Enrico Junior; Visser, Jan; Koffeman, Els (3 July 2015). "Prospects for spectral CT with Medipix detectors". Proceedings of Technology and Instrumentation in Particle Physics 2014 — PoS(TIPP2014). Trieste, Italy: Sissa Medialab: 246. doi:10.22323/1.213.0246.
  7. 1 2 "MARS Bioimaging to Position Itself for Series A Fundraising". www.scoop.co.nz. 25 February 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  8. ↑ Holbrook, M.; Clark, D. P.; Barber, W.; Badea, C. T. (9 March 2018). "Development of a spectral photon-counting micro-CT system with a translate-rotate geometry". In Gilat Schmidt, Taly; Lo, Joseph Y; Chen, Guang-Hong (eds.). Medical Imaging 2018: Physics of Medical Imaging. Vol. 10573. International Society for Optics and Photonics. pp. 105731D. Bibcode:2018SPIE10573E..1DH. doi:10.1117/12.2293373. ISBN 9781510616356. S2CID 125776399.
  9. 1 2 "MARS Bioimaging". Scale-Up New Zealand. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  10. ↑ "First 3D colour X-ray of a human using CERN technology". CERN. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
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