4D Medical CEO hails launch of world's first dedicated lung scanner, stock price jumps 30pc

4DX launches world’s first dedicated lung scanner
It enables doctors to see how the lung functions in just 10 seconds
Addressable market could be hundreds of millions of dollars a year, according to CEO.

Respiratory device specialist, 4D Medical (ASX:4DX), jumped by as much as 30% this morning after launching the world’s first dedicated lung scanner.

It’s a groundbreaking development that could change the way doctors scan our lungs, according to 4D Medical CEO, Dr. Andreas Fouras.

“If you look at the history of medicine, there’s really only been a few medical scanners that everyone’s heard of,” Dr. Fouras told Stockhead this morning.

“There’s the CT scan, the MRI, PET, SPECT. And the XV Scanner is one of the handful of new scanners that have been invented in medical history.”

“So this is a major development that I couldn’t be more excited about today,” he said.

What does the XV Scanner do?

4DX has successfully combined its proprietary XV Technology with purpose-built hardware to create a dedicated lung scanner, the XV Scanner.

The new scanner has the ability to provide detailed quantitative data on respiratory function via an automated scanning process.

“In less than 10 seconds and for less radiation than one chest X-ray, you can get a full four dimensional scan of somebody’s lungs while they breathe,” Fouras explained.

He said the scanner allows you to see in rich detail where the air is going in the lungs, and where the air isn’t going – which is exactly what the doctors want to see.

“This happens really fast, and it’s never been possible before,” Fouras said.

He added that the scanner is very safe as there is no radiation, dyes, or contrast agents used in the scan.

For decades, spirometry, X-ray and CT scans have been the best practice for detecting lung disease.

But CT and X-ray can only image the structure of the lung, and from those images, specialists attempt to infer lung function. While they provide important insights into the patient’s lung, they often detect anomalies too late for patients to receive effective treatment.

4DX’s technology on the other hand, provides a non-invasive way of understanding regional lung motion and airflow.

It enables highly-detailed maps of both the patterns of lung motion and pulmonary function, with functional deficits detected through local (regional) differences in movement.

“People can still go and use the X-ray scan which was invented over a hundred years ago, or they can use this new dedicated lung scanner which has multiple advantages over the X-ray,” Fouras said.

Addressable market

Fouras said the new scanner will be delivered in Australia and the US, where the company has already received interest from customers, hospitals, and researchers.

The device will still need to go through the usual clinical trials and FDA approval process.

Fouras said the addressable market could be huge.

“In terms of ballpark numbers, we’re talking about hundreds of millions of dollars per year,” he said.

The device was designed and manufactured in Australia through a collaboration with the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF), a grant in which the Australian government contributed $28.9m.

And at 3pm AEDT today, Federal Minister for Health Greg Hunt will be unveiling the XV Scanner at the Prince of Wales Hospital.

4D Medical share price today:

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