Micro-X reveals game-changing portable CT scanner ahead of trials
Adelaide company Micro-X is gearing up for the first trials of its world-first technology that it hopes can go global.
A renewed focus on the medical sector is paying dividends for lightweight X-ray and CT imaging company Micro-X, with the company securing a string of contracts as it embarks on trials of its latest brain scanning device designed to revolutionise stroke diagnosis.
Micro-X has completed construction of its first Head CT device, which weighs about 70kg and can be fitted to a standard ambulance. It’s about a tenth of the weight of a traditional CT device.
Hospital trials of the Head CT in Adelaide and Melbourne will begin in November, before a second phase involving data collected from stroke patients transported in an ambulance fitted with the Micro-X device.
Development of Micro-X’s portable Head CT scanner is supported by $8m in funding from the federal government’s Medical Research Future Fund, while the ambulance trials will be backed with an additional $4.4m in federal funding under its Industry Growth Program.
Chief executive Kingsley Hall said the world-first mobile CT scanner would enable paramedics to scan a patient’s brain from any location, and then immediately forward the image to a stroke specialist for assessment.
“Stroke’s the second largest killer in the world and 85 per cent of strokes are ischemic, or clots, that can be treated really effectively if they’re treated quickly,” he said.
“Our unit is small enough to fit into the side wall of a traditional ambulance, it weighs about 70kg, which is about a 10th the weight of a traditional CT.
“We would anticipate the second phase of our trials being completed towards the back end of 2026, which will then lead to us commercialising the unit.”
Micro-X is also developing a full-body mobile CT scanner as part of a contract with the US Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health. The contract, worth up to $25m, is designed to bring critical healthcare services to rural communities across the US.
Mr Hall said the contract win was a major milestone for the company that caused it to re-set its strategy for future growth.
“When we won that contract back in December, we took the decision to focus on medical imaging,” he said.
“The technology platform that we’ve built is very integrated and can essentially X-ray and produce CT images across a range of different verticals, whether it be medical or security.
“We just felt like the time was right to focus on medical. And at that same time we announced the first of our strategic partnerships, which is we sold a Malaysian company 20-year distribution rights to a baggage scanner that we will produce for them.
“We delivered the first prototype to them only a few weeks ago, and we think there’s great value in the security applications. But we want to focus on medical imaging, and we want to be the technology provider to other people to commercialise in the security space.”
Micro-X is continuing to work with the US Department of Homeland Security on the development of a self-service security and baggage screening portal for airports, while its flagship Rover Plus mobile X-ray system is also continuing to attract global attention.
In October the company secured its single biggest sale of units under a $3.3m deal with the Malaysian Ministry of Health, just three months after it announced a major supply agreement with a healthcare group in the US that operates more than 700 healthcare facilities.
Mr Hall said 29 Rover units were currently deployed in Ukraine to support doctors across the war-torn country, while sporting teams were also emerging as a growing customer base.
“We’ve sold into close to 10 or 11 professional sporting teams in the US, across Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League and we just sold our first unit to an NBA team as well.
“So we’re now across those three key professional sports that then opens you up to the possibility of getting into the college system. The tier one college system in the US is enormous and very well funded.”
Micro-X employs close to 100 staff, including around 80 in Australia, with all research, development and manufacturing undertaken at its Tonsley headquarters.
More Coverage
Originally published as Micro-X reveals game-changing portable CT scanner ahead of trials
Guns, machetes, daggers seized after warehouse discovery
