TechniScan raises $2M, advances trials

Ultrasound pioneer TechniScan of Salt Lake City has raised more than $2 million in its Series B round of financing. The company, founded in 1984, has developed an ultrasound technology for secondary screening and diagnosis of breast cancer. Inverse scattering generates ultrasonic "reflection" images similar to the sectional slices seen with MR and CT, while quantitating tissue properties. Phase I clinical trials at St. Mark's Hospital in Salt Lake City demonstrate that the TechniScan system can create high-resolution, reflective ultrasound images, as well as transmission images showing the speed and absorption of sound in the breast. Preliminary results, released Jan. 29, indicate that benign and cancerous lesions might be distinguished based on these tissue properties, according to the company. If future tests are successful, the technology might be used to reduce the number of breast biopsies.