Micrima
A Leading Organization Developing Technology
for Breast Cancer Screening
T
oday, over half a million women die of breast
cancer every year. Yet, if a tumor of less than 1cm
in size is detected, with no lymph involvement,
survival rates at 5 years are comparable with someone who
has not had cancer. Addressing this problem, an eminent
organization named Micrima was set up with the aim of
reducing the number of women who die of breast cancer by
developing a system that can aid earlier detection.
Micrima believes that the early detection of breast cancer
can be achieved by frequent screening from an early age,
which cannot be achieved with current screening methods.
Dedicated to improve the conventional diagnosis methods,
Micrima has set out to develop a system that is comfortable
for the patient, easy to interpret, and can be used frequently
from a much younger age in order to detect cancer early.
Originally based on technology for the detection of buried
landmines, the early application to breast imaging was
spun-out from the University of Bristol, as Micrima, in
- The founders of the company, Roy Johnson,
Professor Alan Preece, and Professor Ian Craddock,
recognized the impact the technology could potentially
have on breast cancer detection and mortality rates. Until
2014, Micrima continued to fund the work at the
University, when the reduced technology risk justified the
investment into establishing and growing the physical
company. Today, the company consists of 23 hardware,
software, and product development engineers with a small
commercial team. It is continuing to expand in all areas of
the business to meet the strategic aims of the company.
About the Intellectual Leader
Roy Johnson is the Executive Chairman of Micrima who
has over 35 years’ of enriching experience in the medical
device and diagnostics sector. He has been operating at
board level in both the UK and the USA. He is particularly
conversant with bringing complex technologies to market,
developing worldwide distribution networks, and
negotiating and managing strategic relationships with some
of the industry’s leading players. Following a career in large
USA corporates, he has founded 4 medical technology
companies and has advised the government in the Life
Sciences sector.MARIA®: A Unique Product of Micrima
MARIA® (Multistatic Array Radio-wave Image
Acquisition) is a revolutionary product of Micrima that uses
radio-waves to detect breast cancer. The procedure of
diagnosis includes the patient lying on their tummy on the
bed, such that breast to be imaged is pendulant through a
hole in the bed. Then, the array comes up to meet the breast,
there are different size inserts to accommodate different
sizes of breast. This array contains 60 antennae that each
transmits and receives. They each do this in turn, taking 22
seconds before the array rotates. The same process is
repeated twice more to build up a 3D map of the tissues
throughout the breast. MARIA® measures the signal
reflected at the interface between tissues of different
electromagnetic material properties showing reflections
from the edges of lesions.The commercial team at Micrima is working very closely
with its clinical partners ensuring the exact needs of the
customer are met. Today, MARIA® is used as an adjunct toOur major mission is to reduce
the number of women who die
of breast cancer by developing
a system that can aid earlier
detection of the tumor
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30 |July 2019|