Wednesday, June 29, 2005

FerriScan™

Filed under: GI , Medicine

Medgadget reader Dr. Joel B. tells us to check out another great clinical system. This one is called FerriScan™ and it comes from Australian company Resonance Health Ltd. The system is FDA cleared for non-invasive diagnosis of iron overload:

FerriScan™ is a novel, non-invasive diagnostic test of the iron content of a patient's liver to assist clinicians in the detection and treatment of iron overload disorders such as thalassemia and hereditary haemochromatosis. The FerriScan™ diagnostic test service uses existing MRI (magnetic-resonance imaging) machines at radiology facilities worldwide which can be configured to provide a suitable scan of the liver that is subsequently analysed at the centralised IVB image analysis centre to quantify iron loading using proprietary software. The FerriScan™ test provides a safe alternative to liver biopsy and will become a valuable adjunct to gene testing for iron overload diseases. Liver biopsy is an unpleasant, invasive procedure requiring liver tissue to be extracted from the patient by needle.

More at FerriScan™ homepage...

FerriScan™ brochure (.pdf)...

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