WA researchers develop new MRI method

Researchers at the University of Western Australia have developed a novel method for detecting iron overload diseases using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

The non-invasive FerriScan technique is expected to replace the current method of diagnosis, which involves a painful and expensive biopsy to determine the level of iron build-up in the liver.

Iron overload diseases result from having excess amounts of iron in the body, which deposits as a form of rust in tissues where it can act as a catalyst for damaging reactions. Typically it is difficult to diagnose, as it has a long latent period with vague non-specific symptoms.

One form of iron overload -- hereditary haemachromatosis -- has been linked to at least one gene, and can be treated by regular bleeding. A second form of iron toxicity is associated with thalassaemia, a debilitating form of anaemia that requires regular blood transfusions, leading to iron overload. This form of iron overload is treated with iron chelators, an expensive and risky therapy.

"The motivation for our research was to come up with an accurate way of measuring iron in the liver," said Assoc Prof Tim St Pierre, a physicist at UWA and senior scientist at Inner Vision Biometrics (IVB), the UWA spin-off that developed the technology. According to St Pierre, the technique came out of his interest in magnetism of iron in biological systems.

Essentially, the FerriScan technique involves using MRI to detect the iron deposits. When a patient is placed in the strong magnetic field generated by MRI, the iron particles become weakly magnetised, affecting the water molecules surrounding the iron, says St Pierre. Measurements of a marker known as the proton transverse relaxation rate, or R2, can be correlated to iron concentrations in the liver, resulting in a quantitative map of iron deposits in the liver.

But rather than just providing the information on how to collect and analyse the data, IVB has set up a central image analysis centre to process the data and provide quality-controlled results within 24-48 hours.

"We specify what the MRI parameters have to be to collect the data. Remote MRI centres can make measurements and send the data to us electronically for data analysis," said St Pierre.

"We do the processing to produce an iron map and [calculate the] average concentration of iron in the liver."

Western Australian company Resonance Health (ASX:RHT), which owns 51 per cent of IVB, is commercialising the technology. The company listed via a reverse takeover of Geo2 in November last year, raising AUD$1.3 million in the process.

"We're providing funding -- expansion capital -- as well commercial expertise in management, licensing and commercial implementation," said Resonance CEO Tony Fitzgerald.

The remaining equity in IVB is owned by UWA, the inventors and a group of radiologists involved in early development of the technology, he said.

The initial target, Fitzgerald said, would be to get the product approved in various markets. FerriScan has already been tested in clinical trials in Australia and the company expects to seek regulatory approval for the test from the TGA in the second quarter of this year, followed by European CE approval, and then FDA registration.

A patent for the technique has already been issued in the US, and applications have been filed in other major jurisdictions.

Fitzgerald said the company also planned to expand the technology into other applications and diseases. "We're particularly interested in the hepatitis area and the potential use of FerriScan to detect and quantify fibrosis in the liver due to hepatitis. Fatty liver disease is also of interest," he said.