Medical Device Link.

Industry Intelligence: Real-time imaging

Supplier to the med-tech industry Leti (Grenoble, France) has launched a new company as part of its mission to further medical diagnostics and treatment. “Fluoptics not only exemplifies Leti’s mission of creating innovation and transferring it to industry, but it also is our first startup in the field of biomedicine,” says Leti CEO Laurent Malier. Deriving its fluorescence imaging technology for cancer targeting from CEA-Leti and the Université Joseph Fourier, Fluoptics is one of four startups launched by Leti this year. It is based on the Minatec campus, a European centre of excellence in micro- and nanotechnologies also located in Grenoble.

Leti, which stands for Laboratory for Electronics and Information Technology, is a company within the French public research and technology organisation CEA. It specialises in micro- and nanotechnologies and their applications with a focus on nanoelectronics and microelectrical mechanical systems (MEMS). Since its founding in 1967, Leti has launched 35 high-technology startups including French MEMS supplier Tronics and, now, Fluoptics.

Fluoptics’ new real-time imaging technique can improve the detection of tumors, helping surgeons to delineate lumps for resection, according to the company. “The main goal of Fluoptics is to industrialise new technologies to improve cancer surgery,” says Odile Allard, CEO of Fluoptics. “Our technology will give surgeons radically new efficiencies in tumour detection.”

While many companies prefer to hunker down during difficult economic times, Leti continues to invest in new projects. “Innovation remains a differentiating factor in the context of a downturn and it can help companies to survive,” says Francis Bertrand, Deputy Director of Leti. But companies also need to find ways to innovate while cutting costs, accelerating time-to-market and, generally, improving the odds for success, adds Bertrand. Welcome to the new economy, in other words.

www.leti.fr