Our Mission
Imagion Biosystems is dedicated to providing tools to find and eliminate cancer. We are a multidisciplinary team with expertise in the physics of magnetic fields and nanotechnology and the medical application of these fields. Our focus is in the rapidly emerging field of nanobiotechnology with an emphasis on the early detection and localization of cancer and other human diseases. Our technologies also hold the promise of providing image-guided therapy for the treatment of these diseases, as well as providing new methods for therapeutic intervention.
Our proprietary technologies and methods employ magnetic nanoparticles targeted towards cells associated with cancer and other diseases and provide the ability to detect these cells using highly sensitive magnetic sensors. These methods have numerous preclinical and clinical applications. Preclinical research projects have focused on the early detection of breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and prostate cancer.
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The Technology
PrecisionMRX Nanoparticles
PrecisionMRX nanoparticles are extensively characterized superparamagnetic nanoparticles manufactured by Imagion Biosystems. The PrecisionMRX nanoparticles are composed of a 25 nm iron oxide core and specialized polymer coating. The nanoparticles can be functionalized to delay clearance from blood circulation and enable targeted attachment to tumor cells. Due to stringent manufacturing control over nanoparticle size, PrecisionMRX nanoparticles can be used in a variety of applications in addition to superparamagnetic relaxometry, including magnetic resonance imaging, magnetic particle imaging, magnetically induced hyperthermia, magnetomotive ultrasound imaging, and magnetically based immunoassays and cell enrichment assays.
Superparamagnetic Relaxometry
Superparamagnetic relaxometry combines the use of sensitive magnetic sensors and the superparamagnetic properties of iron oxide (Fe3O4) nanoparticles. The unique properties of the nanoparticles combined with tumor-targeting biomarkers allows specific attachment to cancer cells. Nanoparticles behave differently when bound to a cell by the antibody vs. remaining free in circulation. The different magnetic fields produced results in high detection specificity between attached and unattached nanoparticles. In the detection of cancer cells, superparamagnetic relaxometry has been shown to be several orders of magnitude more sensitive than conventional imaging methods.