EMvision lists on ASX with brain scanner technology to help stroke victims

Brisbane-based EMvision Medical Devices (ASX: EMV) has successfully listed on the ASX following a $6 million oversubscribed initial public offering (IPO).

The funds will be used to develop the company’s innovative medical imaging technology – a portable, cost effective, non-invasive brain scanner that could speed up the diagnosis of brain injuries and stroke.

Earlier this year, EMvision was awarded a $2.6 million CRC-P grant from the Australian Government to work with the University of Queensland, GE Healthcare and Brisbane’s Princess Alexandra Hospital in advancing its brain scanner program.

These partners have also committed to provide a further $910,000 in grant funds to the company.

EMvision’s chief executive officer Dr Ron Weinberger, formerly the executive director and chief executive officer of Nanosonics (ASX: NAN) – a $1bn market cap healthcare company – said that the company’s technology could have a powerful impact on improving stroke care throughout the world.

“The brain ages about 3.6 years every hour that appropriate stroke treatment is delayed, so reducing the time of diagnosis and treatment makes our brain scanner a very attractive proposition for the healthcare industry,” Dr Weinberger said.

“Our devices could become the difference between permanent disability or even death, and a positive recovery.”

EMvision’s brain scanner device works by creating rapid 3D images of the brain using the same type of electromagnetic waves that mobile phones use to transmit voice and data, but for medical imaging.

Its use could dramatically speed up the diagnosis of brain injuries – something that would usually be done through expensive and stationary imaging technologies like CT and MRI, which are reliant on the patient being taken to the imaging technology.

By contrast, EMvision’s device is significantly smaller and completely portable.

EMvision has stated it initially plans to use the device to monitor victims of stroke at their bedside while recovering, and detect the onset of subsequent strokes – half, of which, occur within a week of the first stroke.

Future versions of the device are also expected to provide rapid stroke decision support in ambulances, whereby patients having a stroke could be identified and transported directly to specialist hospitals for intervention.

According to the Stroke Foundation of Australia, someone suffers from a stroke every 10 minutes, and in most cases it can takes hours for victims to get specialist treatment from the initial emergency 000 call.

The company is currently undertaking Healthy Human Trials to evaluate how the clinical prototype performs in a real-world environment.

EMvision will then run a pilot clinical trial at the Princess Alexandra Hospital to collect data from patients with diagnosed ischaemic and haemorrhagic stroke, with confirmatory CT or MRI images.

By the late afternoon trade Thursday, EMvision’s share price was $0.29 – up from the IPO price of $0.25.