From science to market: Twilite, a new blood sampler helps in the diagnosis of diseases like cancer, Alzheimer's or dementia

The Centre Suisse d’ Electronique et de Microtechnique SA (CSEM) and Swisstrace introduce Twilite, a new and highly sensitive nuclear medicine blood sampler that measures - with high temporal resolution - the time-course of radioactivity in whole blood. Medical imaging techniques are increasingly important diagnostic tools for diseases. Positron Emission Tomography (PET) – a nuclear medicine imaging technique that produces a three-dimensional picture of the body’s functional processes - is one such technique and is widely used in the diagnosis of cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. Twilit is far smaller than any of its competitors and hence far more suited to the clinical and research environment.
 
Twilite converts the radioactive tracer’s signal into an optical signal which is carried by liquid light guides to the data logging and signal processing system. This results in a much smaller measuring head made from special materials that are 100% compatible with NMR, and places the electronics and other hardware at a convenient distance from the monitoring head and the patient. The product’s unique design makes it insensitive to magnetic fields and therefore ideal for use with NMR scanners.
The complete system offers many advantages to medical and health end-users including its excellent sensitivity, linearity and signal-to-noise ratio even in the presence of high external electromagnetic radiation.
 
Twilite was developed by CSEM and SwissTrace and brought to market by SwissTrace. Eighteen months in development and proof of principle system testing by CSEM, the system was developed into a full product by SwissTrace in continuing close collaboration with the center.
 
Kontakt: Dr. Ross Stanley , CSEM
ross.stanley@csem.ch