3D Pathology: A New Molecular Imaging Technique Wins World Molecular Imaging Congress VC Session

CULVER CITY, Calif., Sept. 19, 2018 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Five venture capitalists and angel investors evaluated five different companies. Vivek Paul, Thomas J. Meade, PhD, Ajit Singh, PhD, David M. Hadley, PhD, and Brian Chow, PhD, unanimously chose Lightspeed Microscopy as a fundable start-up company with great potential for success.

Dr. Nick Reder, a pathologist at the University of Washington, along with CEO Dr. Steve Buckley, Dr. Adam Glaser, Professor Jonathan Liu, and Professor Larry True, co-founded Lightspeed Microscopy, a start-up company that manufactures a "flatbed scanner for tissue" that produces rich 3D molecular datasets. The ultimate goal of Lightspeed Microscopy is to replace traditional slide-based 2D pathology with molecular 3D pathology. This technique provides more and better data to help pathologists make critical patient decisions, all without consuming or destroying the tissue specimens.

"When I started residency, I could not believe pathology still used 2D glass slides when there is a better way. As we enter the age of AI in medicine, the ability to collect 3D molecular data from tissue samples is critical, it can be lifesaving. I believe this 3D data will allow us to unlock and advance our current level of knowledge and this could lead to better, more personalized patient care," said Nick Reder, Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Lightspeed Microscopy.

Dr. Reder and his co-founding team recently started the company in summer 2018 based on technology developed in co-founder, Professor Jonathan Liu's Molecular Biophotonics Lab at the University of Washington. Early prototypes were developed by Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer, Dr. Adam Glaser, a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Liu's lab. While the idea to start a company had been explored for over a year, it was made possible when Dr. Steve Buckley, a successful photonics entrepreneur and former engineering professor, was brought on to be CEO. They plan to start selling microscopes to the research community in 2019.

The WMIS VC session was developed to showcase new developments in Molecular Imaging. "New technology and innovations drive better patient outcomes and we as a society will always help to create platforms that educate our community on the latest trends," said Lisa Baird, Executive Director, World Molecular Imaging Society.

ABOUT THE WORLD MOLECULAR IMAGING SOCIETY
The WMIS is dedicated to developing and promoting translational research through multimodality molecular imaging. WMIC provides a unique setting for scientists and clinicians with very diverse backgrounds to interact, present, and follow cutting-edge advances in the rapidly expanding field of molecular imaging that impacts nearly every biomedical discipline. Industry exhibits at the congress included corporations who have created the latest advances in preclinical and clinical imaging approaches and equipment, providing a complete molecular imaging educational technology showcase. For more information: http://www.wmis.org.

SOURCE World Molecular Imaging Society