Seno Medical

Seno Medical Instruments, Inc., established in 2005, is a medical imaging company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, focused on the early and accurate detection of breast cancer. The company was founded based on technology developed at the University of Texas Health Science Center by Dr. Thomas E. Milner, who serves as the Chief Technology Officer. Dr. Milner, a biomedical engineering professor, brings extensive expertise in optics and imaging, which has been foundational to the company's technological advancements. The company's leadership team includes President and CEO Tom Umbel, who brings a wealth of experience from his previous roles at other major medical technology firms.

Seno Medical operates within the diagnostic imaging market, specifically targeting breast cancer diagnostics. Its core offering is the Imagio® Breast Imaging System, a device that integrates opto-acoustic (OA) and ultrasound (US) technologies. This dual-modality approach provides both anatomical images from the ultrasound and functional blood analysis through the use of laser optics. The opto-acoustic component visualizes hemoglobin concentration and oxygenation, which helps in differentiating benign from malignant breast lesions by identifying abnormal blood vessel growth, or angiogenesis, a key indicator of cancer. This provides radiologists with real-time functional data that is not available through traditional imaging methods like mammography or ultrasound alone.

The business model centers on the sale of the Imagio® system to hospitals and diagnostic imaging centers. The primary benefit for these clients is the potential to reduce the rate of false-positive biopsy recommendations, thereby lowering healthcare costs and decreasing patient anxiety associated with invasive procedures. The Imagio® system is designed to be a supplemental diagnostic tool, used to further characterize breast masses that have been identified by other imaging methods. The system received its initial CE Mark for sale in Europe in 2014 and gained FDA approval for the US market in 2021. Following its FDA clearance, Seno Medical has been actively commercializing the Imagio® system across the United States, establishing it as a new standard in breast cancer diagnosis.

Keywords: medical imaging, breast cancer diagnostics, opto-acoustic imaging, ultrasound technology, diagnostic device, angiogenesis detection, medical device, radiology, oncology, biopsy decision-support