Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is the most advanced functional imaging technique, used to evaluate organ and tissue function, capable of detecting disease at very early stages.
It’s the most used technique in clinical and research Oncology, but also an important tool to study brain and heart functions. PET proved to be particularly useful for disease staging and monitoring of its evolution and response to therapy. Preclinical PET scanners are an important tool for medical research in small animal models of disease and have the potential to significantly accelerate drug discovery and development. However, the high complexity and implementation cost of PET technology and budget restrictions of medical schools and research centres, greatly limit the adoption and use of PET. The most economic preclinical PET scanner costs around 500.000€, an unaffordable value for the large majority of universities and health schools. Furthermore, there are no dedicated PET systems for education and training in nuclear medicine.
EasyPET technology allows developing innovative PET scanners for a much lower cost than what is currently possible, with super high spatial resolution and high-quality image made possible by the intelligent acquisition method. Based on this patented technology, RI-TE developed “EasyPET training”, a unique device, the first PET scanner dedicated to education and training, allowing in-depth practical learning of PET and its procedures, a valuable resource for students or technicians of nuclear medicine, medical imaging and related areas. The system will democratize access to PET technology, making it accessible to the greatest number of institutions, revolutionizing the way PET imaging is taught and practised around the world, ensuring high quality education and training. A working prototype of EasyPET training is close to market and available to show.
In addition, RI-TE plans is developing “iPET”, a scaled up version for preclinical small animal imaging (research institutes, clinical research organizations and pharmaceutical industry) with unbeatable quality/price. While the preclinical imaging market is valued at more than 1 b€ and has many established players and competitors (e.g., Bruker, Siemens, Perkin Elmer, MI Labs, TriFoil Imaging, Molecubes, etc.), there is no direct competition in the education and training segment, an untapped market of over 50 m€ that RI-TE aims to exploit as its initial target.
RI-TE is looking for an investment of 500.000€ for the next 18 months, for EasyPET training product certification, marketing and industrial production, as well as for developing iPET.
