Computer diagnosis firm Medicsight raises £32M on AIM

IPO

Medicsight plc, which is developing image analysis software to assist in the early detection and diagnosis of disease, raised £32 million before expenses in a placing of 29 million shares and £1.10 each. The deal gives the company a market capitalisation of £171 million.

The company’s computer-aided detection software is used for analysing computer tomography scans. The system enables abnormalities to be diagnosed at the earliest possible stage and to be monitored over time. The software has been validated against one of the world’s largest databases of verified CT scans. The company’s marketed products include ColonCAD and COLON CAR, and LungCAD and LUNG CAR which aid the early detection of colorectal and lung cancer, respectively.

These automatically highlights suspicious areas on CT scans of the colon and lung, helping radiologists to identify, measure and analyse potential disease and early indicators of disease.

Some CT scan examinations generate as many as 2,000 images per patient. Review of these data by the radiologist is not only time-consuming but also prone to error due to fatigue. CAD software can help the reviewing radiologist by analysing the image data and automatically highlighting suspicious regions of interest for closer inspection.