Safe and Effective Breast Cancer Biopsy with MARIA

Breast cancer is the largest killer of women in the West, with over 0.5m dying from it each year despite the contribution of national screening programs which drive a >$1bn global market for diagnostic imaging systems. MARIA (Micrima Limited, Bristol) is a radiofrequency-based breast imaging system that does not utilise ionising radiation, requires limited training compared to other modalities and, unlike x-ray mammography, performs well in dense breast tissue which is associated with younger women who are currently ineligible for mammography-based national screening programs. Image guided needle biopsies are used to verify any diagnosis of breast cancer that has been obtained via other assessments (imaging etc.) Established breast imaging technologies (X-ray Mammography, MRI, Ultrasound) offer support for biopsy procedures through specialised devices but each of these modalities incurs some risk to the patient and/ or requires that a highly-trained clinician analyse the images. This project will develop a novel image-guided needle biopsy system prototype based on Micrima's proprietary technology which, when commercialised, will accelerate adoption of MARIA technology and realise Micrima's potential to supersede existing breast imaging modalities in the diagnosis of breast cancer in young women.