Researchers from a Heriot-Watt University spinout have developed a new imaging approach to tackle prostate cancer, reporting ‘extremely encouraging’ results in early-stage clinical trials at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh.

According to the team at Less Grey Imaging who developed the technology, the ongoing trial demonstrated an initial 94% sensitivity rate in tumour detection, with the new test delivered in less than twenty minutes on existing clinical ultrasound equipment.

As the cost of an ultrasound scanner is only around 10% that of an MRI scanner, the researchers said the new approach could provide clinicians with a valuable tool to better guide prostate biopsies and focal therapy, a technique that destroys cancer cells.

“Currently, prostate cancer diagnosis varies widely across the country, with many patients being diagnosed too late for curative treatment,” said Dr George Papageorgiou, Chief Executive of Less Grey Imaging.

“By integrating ultrasound more prominently into the diagnostic pathway, we can ensure equal opportunities for early diagnosis across all regions of the UK. Our software deploys existing ultrasound equipment to enhance image quality down to microscopic detail.”

The new imaging test begins by injecting a contrast agent containing millions of tiny, harmless microbubbles that travel through the patient’s bloodstream to the prostate, with the team using a technique known as super resolution ultrasound imaging (SRUI) to track these microbubbles.

Due to the altered blood flow in cancerous tissue, the image highlights previously unseen tumours, enabling earlier diagnosis. The researchers claim that the technology offers clinicians up to a 20-fold increase in resolution compared to multi-parametric MRI, which provides a grey and difficult-to-read image.

It is hoped that this approach could reduce the number of tumours missed by current clinical methods, which result in up to 28% of significant tumours missed and 1 in every 2 individuals with positive MRI findings receiving a negative biopsy result.

According to Prostrate Cancer UK, last year more than 1 in 3 (35%) of men in Scotland were diagnosed too late, at stage 4, the highest number across the UK. Added to that,  the Darzi report, a review of the NHS published in September 2024, revealed that waiting times targets for the first treatment of cancer have not been met since December 2015.

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Professor Vassilis Sboros, from Heriot-Watt University’s School of Engineering and Physical Sciences and co-founder of Less Grey Imaging, said: “By utilising existing ultrasound scanners found in hospitals and clinics worldwide, we’re able to produce high-resolution images of the prostate that clinicians have never seen before. 

“It’s just like looking inside the body with a microscope, allowing clinicians to see 20 times more detail than before. Even concealed tumours are possible to identify. This is exactly what the new Government needs to tackle the challenges facing the NHS.”

Fighting cancer is one of the five key themes for Heriot-Watt University’s new Global Research Institute in Health and Care Technologies, where other efforts include the creation of laser-based systems to target cancer cells more precisely and the use of 3D bioprinting techniques to model tumour microenvironments.