NEW YORK (360Dx) – The Mayo Clinic and Owlstone Medical today announced a research collaboration agreement to evaluate Owlstone's FAIMS technology as a pre-endoscopic test.
In the US, clinicians perform 14 million colonoscopy procedures each year, and of these, approximately a quarter involve patients with inadequate bowel preparation, the collaborators said. This often results in repeat colonoscopies or an increased risk of missed disease diagnosis.
In a pilot study, Owlstone captured and analyzed volatile organic compound (VOC) biomarkers emitted from pre-procedural stool samples using the company's ATLAS Headspace Sampler and Lonestar VOC Analyzer, which is the company's field asymmetric ion mobility spectrometer (FAIMS) sensor platform. The company found that its technology can rapidly and effectively identify patients inadequately prepared for a colonoscopy with 100 percent sensitivity and 80 percent specificity.
Following that study,the Mayo Clinic and Owlstone have embarked on a larger clinical trial, guided by gastroenterologists Liam Zakko and Kenneth Wang to asses the FAIMS technology as a pre-endoscopic test to ensure that colonoscopies are only performed when patients are adequately prepped for the procedure.
"The work not only validates our technology for use in clinical practice but also demonstrates its scope for wide medical application using other biospecimens in addition to breath," Billy Boyle, cofounder and CEO at Owlstone, said in a statement.