Tissue Oximetry
fdNIRS can provide quantitative tissue perfusion information including StO2, HHb, HbO2, and HbR. This information can be used in many clinical applications ranging from sports medicine and weight loss to cardiovascular health assessment and treatment.
Investigational Studies
The NearWave Scanner is for investigational use only for these applications.
The NearWave Scanner® is currently used for research only.
Breast Cancer
Diagnosis
Mammography remains the standard-of-care for breast cancer screening and diagnosis. However, more than half of radiologists do not operate in the acceptable ranges for biopsy recommendations, according to a 2017 NIH study, suggesting an unmet clinical need. fdNIRS has been shown as a promising technology to help radiologists characterize benign or malignant legions in the breast, in one study showing >90% specificity and sensitivity. Additionally, fdNIRS can provide functional and metabolic information and is not limited by the density of breast tissue.
Neoadjuvant
Chemotherapy
Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is given to a patient in order to downstage tumors prior to surgery. Approximately 31% of women fail to respond to this therapy. It has recently been shown that measuring tissue oxygen saturation in breast tumors using near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) can predict the response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy within 7 days of treatment. However, this type of functional imaging is not included in current standard-of-care imaging modalities. Increased monitoring can enable dynamic feedback for optimization of chemotherapy strategies in breast cancer prior to tumor size reduction.
Tank, H.M. Peterson, V. Pera, S. Tabassum, A. Leproux, T. D. O’Sullivan, E. Jones, H. Cabral, N. Ko, R.S. Mehta, B.J. Tromberg & D. Roblyer. Diffuse optical spectroscopic imaging reveals distinct early breast tumor hemodynamic responses to metronomic and maximum tolerated dose regimens. Breast Cancer Research. (2020)
Brain Imaging
fdNIRS can be used to monitor and track brain activity for research, education, trauma diagnosis such as traumatic brain injury (TBI), and neuro-rehabilitation. Information on brain performance may indicate signs of cognitive impairment from trauma such as a concussion.
Neonatal Imaging
The lungs of newborns are not fully developed and it is not always clear if their brain is being properly oxygenated. Therefore, tracking the oxygenation in the brains of newborns is crucial to monitoring early treatment and development.
Other Research
Applications
Other research applications include cardiovascular health, bone cancer sarcoma, joint imaging, pre-clinical imaging, and many others!
Contact us to join our research efforts!