Sonic Incytes Medical Corp. – Delivering Reliable Liver Health Insights at Your Fingertips

The rise of fatty liver disease is an emerging health crisis, resulting in chronic illness for millions of people and escalating healthcare costs. Because liver disease causes no symptoms in most cases, it frequently comes to medical attention when tests done for other reasons point to a liver problem. This can happen if your liver looks unusual on ultrasound or if you have an abnormal liver enzyme test. A liver biopsy can be uncomfortable, and it does have small risks that your doctor will review with you in detail. This procedure is performed by a needle insertion through the abdominal wall and into the liver. Although liver biopsy is still the gold standard for diagnosis and staging of liver disease, imaging methods such as ultrasonography, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging with chemical shift imaging and especially magnetic resonance spectroscopy and elastography have been increasingly approved as noninvasive alternative methods. Definitive diagnostic tools for this disease are limited to biopsy and MRI, and are expensive, invasive and time-consuming. To address this crisis, physicians need a better tool to assess and manage disease.

Sonic Incytes Medical Corp. is one such medical device company that has developed a breakthrough, point of care ultrasound solution for assessing and managing chronic liver disease, which is an emerging global health epidemic, affecting one in four persons worldwide. Sonic Incytes' portable, handheld solution uses technology similar to MRI elastography, quantifying liver disease using 3D tissue sampling. It is a point of care solution that provides consistently accurate results, and a clear picture of liver health in real time, so that physicians can be confident in their diagnosis, treatment and care. In addition, the entire procedure takes about five minutes in a doctor’s office, contributing to a quick, safe and comfortable patient experience. 

Velacur^TM: Redefining the Standard of Care

Velacur^TM is a portable, handheld ultrasound that integrates machine learning to enhance image guidance, resulting in a confident assessment of liver health in all body types. It generates immediate and reliable steatosis and fibrosis measurements at point of care with diagnostic accuracy comparable to MRI. Sonic Incytes’ multiple clinical studies demonstrated consistent high correlation to MRI for measuring steatosis and fibrosis. Using technology similar to MRI elastography, Velacur^TM stages fibrosis using 3D liver tissue sampling. While transient and ultrasound elastography use a handheld probe to create shear waves, Sonic Incytes’ solution goes beyond the conventional approach. With the addition of its external activation pad, Velacur creates the same steady state waves used in MRI elastography, providing MRI-equivalent measurements for distinguishing areas of fibrosis in the body. Moreover, the use of multiple frequencies provides a more accurate measurement over traditional 2D MRI elastography, which is often used in assessing liver disease.

VelacurTM quantifies steatosis (fat content) and stages fibrosis (tissue stiffness) in the liver. Its portable solution consists of a handheld ultrasound, which is placed between the patient’s ribs, and an activation pad. The patient lies on the activation pad, which creates steady state waves in the liver and a 3D tissue sample is measured. It is a scalable solution for use by physicians at point of care, allowing for broad assessment of patients and those at-risk. Payer pre-authorization is not required, allowing for a same-day procedure with immediate results, increasing practice efficiency and improved patient management. Velacur^TM provides an accurate reading of liver health, so physicians have confidence in the diagnosis, treatment and care of their patients.

The Visionary Leader Upfront

Barry Allen is the Chief Executive Officer of Sonic Incytes Medical Corp. He is a serial founder and operator of medtech, software, and digital companies.

“Velacur^TM is well positioned to become the preferred assessment tool. Its state-of-the-art technology provides a more accurate and reliable clinical assessment compared to transient and ultrasound elastography.”