Michelson Diagnostics, the Orpington, UK-based medical imaging company, has been selected to take part in the Future Health Mission 2011 to the USA, the goal of which is to help entrepreneurs in the UK's healthcare technology sector to take their businesses into the global marketplace.
The mission is delivered and supported by the Technology Strategy Board, UK Trade and Investment, Polecat, Silicon Valley Bank and McKinsey. It will be held in San Francisco, coinciding with the annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Investing conference in early January.
Michelson Diagnostics has developed a unique optical scanner called VivoSight, which is being applied by top clinicians in the US and Europe to the growing problem of diagnosing and treating non-melanoma skin cancer. The scanner produces a live image of skin tissue structure hidden below the skin surface, enabling dermatologists to make much more accurate and better informed decisions about skin lesions, potentially dramatically reducing the cost and effectiveness of diagnosis and treatment and making it less invasive and unpleasant for the patient. Until now, the dermatologists relied on visual assessment of the skin surface and on surgical biopsies.
Non-melanoma skin cancer is now the most common type of cancer in the US (a recent estimate was 3.5 million new cases annually), so Michelson's VivoSight scanner could have an enormous impact. It is currently undergoing trials at multiple sites in the US and Europe, and has already received CE and FDA clearance for clinical use.
