Biophan Secures Licensing From German Researchers

Rochester, NY-based Biophan Technologies has acquired an exclusive license from two German researchers who have developed MRI technology that can image in and around a metallic stent. The agreement enables the company to design non-invasive and less costly MRI-based imaging of stent interiors and the adjacent vessel walls.

According to the company, another benefit of the new technology is that it allows non-invasive research on the physiology of drug-eluting stents.

The technology, developed by Arno Bucker and Alexander Ruebben at the University Hospital of Aachen, Germany, uses both a special design and material to allow non-invasive imaging of stent interiors and adjacent vessel walls. Biophan said the licensing agreement-combined with other technologies it holds, including those recently acquired from aMRIs GmbH-gives the company two of the most promising methods for creating artifact-free MRI images of stents and implants.

“The technologies are very synergistic and the combination could prove to be very beneficial. We now have the only proven methods for non-invasive imaging of stent performance,” said Michael Friebe, CEO of Biophan Europe.

Bucker, a clinical professor of radiology at Aachen University, will continue to work on improving the licensed technology with Biophan Europe. Ruebben, a former radiologist at the hospital and now CEO of Aachen Resonance, will also assist in advancing research on MRI-compatible stents.

Current stents on the market create image artifacts that prevent visualization of the stent lumen. Also, procedures such as MR vessel wall imaging and plaque imaging are not possible in stented vessel segments. The new technology will enable physicians to better see the vessel walls and stent lumen.

Biophan is a company that specializes in MRI imaging technologies.