UCT spin-off company CapeRay is about to launch a world first — a ‘dual-modality’ technology that will combine both X-ray and ultrasound images to produce the most detailed and sharpest breast-cancer-detecting images yet.
The machine is the culmination of millions of Rands in private and public investment and over a decade of work at UCT, where Kit Vaughan, Emeritus Professor at UCT and founder of CapeRay, set up the country’s first medical — imaging research unit in 2000.
According to Vaughan, X-ray mammography combined with ultrasound will push sensitivity up to around 95%, a marked improvement on standard mammography. The product should launch within the next 12 months.