OmniZare will demonstrate its Dielectric Tomography Scanner platform at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) 2025 Annual Meeting in Chicago, November 30 – December 4. The Waltham, Massachusetts-based company is showcasing two applications of its ultra-high frequency radio wave imaging technology: a cranial scanner for stroke and traumatic brain injury detection, and a handheld scanner for internal bleeding, trauma assessment, and body composition analysis. The technology addresses a persistent challenge in emergency stroke care, where every untreated minute costs patients 1.9 million neurons and 13.8 billion synapses, yet diagnostic imaging remains largely confined to hospital-based CT and MRI systems that cannot reach patients at the point of injury or in transit.
HotSpot Take:
Point-of-care brain imaging could finally address the prehospital diagnostic gap that has resisted improvement for two decades despite intensive stroke care optimization efforts.
Non-Ionizing Imaging Through Bone
OmniZare’s cranial scanner provides rapid brain imaging for emergency radiology and monitoring
OmniZare’s scanner uses safe, low-power ultra-high frequency radio waves between 300 MHz and 3 GHz to penetrate several inches into the human body, including through bone, generating real-time 3D quantitative images of dielectric properties in body tissue. According to the company, the solution delivers AI-powered diagnostic results in under 10 seconds and costs as little as one one-hundredth the price of an MRI machine. The non-ionizing approach positions the technology between traditional modalities that either use ionizing radiation (X-ray/CT), require strong magnetic fields (MRI), or face penetration limitations (ultrasound).
“For decades, clinicians have been forced to choose between speed, safety, and diagnostic depth. With OmniZare’s Dielectric Tomography Scanner, that compromise is finally over.” — Eric Giler, co-CEO, OmniZare
“For decades, clinicians have been forced to choose between speed, safety, and diagnostic depth,” said Eric Giler, co-CEO of OmniZare. “With OmniZare’s Dielectric Tomography Scanner, that compromise is finally over. In less than ten seconds, from the back of an ambulance, the sidelines of a football field, or a more traditional clinical setting, we now have potential to tell you whether a patient is having a hemorrhagic stroke, an ischemic stroke, or a traumatic brain injury.”
The Time-to-Treatment Problem
Stroke remains a medical emergency where timing determines outcomes. Research published in the journal Stroke quantifies that the typical stroke patient loses 1.9 million neurons each minute treatment is delayed, with the ischemic brain aging 3.6 years for every hour without intervention. Yet current diagnostic pathways create significant delays: emergency medical services average 13 minutes on-scene before transport begins, followed by hospital arrival, triage, and access to imaging equipment. Multiple studies show that fewer than two-thirds of stroke patients arrive via emergency medical services, and prehospital time has shown little improvement over two decades despite intensive focus on reducing door-to-needle times once patients reach hospitals.
Point-of-care brain imaging represents an emerging category of technologies attempting to bridge this diagnostic gap. Several approaches have reached clinical testing, including electromagnetic imaging systems from companies like EMVision and AiimSense, portable low-field MRI scanners from Hyperfine, and transcranial ultrasound systems. Each technology faces distinct trade-offs between portability, image quality, cost, and ease of use. OmniZare’s dielectric tomography approach differentiates itself through its ability to penetrate bone (where ultrasound fails), non-ionizing safety profile (enabling repeated use without radiation concerns), and claimed sub-10-second imaging speed.
Demonstration Applications
At RSNA Booth 8100, OmniZare will demonstrate cranial scanner capabilities, including rapid detection of hemorrhagic and ischemic strokes, traumatic brain injury assessment, and detection of small lesions in biological tissue phantoms. The handheld scanner demonstrations will showcase detection of internal bleeding and trauma-related injuries, body composition analysis distinguishing visceral from subcutaneous fat, and liver disease assessment.
“For the first time, clinicians can get instant, deep, diagnostic information from a safe and affordable device – no radiation, no gel, no heavy equipment.” — Andre Kurs, PhD, co-CEO, OmniZare
“Our technology represents a paradigm shift in medical imaging,” said Andre Kurs, PhD, co-CEO of OmniZare. “For the first time, clinicians can get instant, deep, diagnostic information from a safe and affordable device – no radiation, no gel, no heavy equipment.”
Market Entry Strategy
The company plans to launch a wellness version focused on body composition as its first market-ready application, which will scale to FDA-cleared clinical applications. The wellness-first pathway mirrors strategies used by other companies entering regulated medical imaging markets, building market presence and validating technology performance before pursuing more complex clinical clearances. OmniZare’s leadership team includes veterans from WiTricity, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, and successful medical technology ventures, bringing backgrounds in wireless power transfer and electromagnetic systems to the medical imaging application.
The portable, off-grid capable system can operate in emergency departments, ambulances, sports medicine settings, and military applications. This positioning targets environments where traditional imaging modalities cannot reach or where rapid triage decisions must occur without transporting patients to imaging facilities. The technology’s safety profile—non-ionizing radiation safe for repeated use in children and pregnant patients—addresses another constraint in emergency imaging where radiation exposure limits repeated scanning.
Competitive Landscape Considerations
Portable brain imaging represents a crowded innovation space with multiple technologies competing to solve similar clinical needs through different technical approaches. Electromagnetic imaging devices from EMVision and AiimSense use similar physics but different implementation approaches. Hyperfine’s portable low-field MRI system offers FDA clearance and established clinical deployment but requires more substantial infrastructure than a truly handheld device. Transcranial ultrasound provides real-time imaging but faces operator skill requirements and acoustic window limitations.
The commercialization challenge extends beyond technical performance to questions of clinical workflow integration, reimbursement pathways, regulatory validation across multiple jurisdictions, and demonstrating outcomes that change patient care rather than simply adding another data point. OmniZare’s claimed one one-hundredth MRI cost and sub-10-second imaging speed address key adoption barriers, but clinical validation through prospective studies will be essential to demonstrate whether the technology can reliably differentiate stroke types, accurately localize injuries, and ultimately improve patient outcomes in the chaotic environments where it aims to be deployed.
Stroke care improvement requires systemic change beyond just diagnostic technology. Even with perfect point-of-care imaging, gains depend on emergency medical services training, hospital readiness, treatment availability, and care coordination across the stroke treatment chain. The technology demonstrations at RSNA 2025 will provide the imaging community’s first opportunity to evaluate image quality, operational practicality, and clinical applicability against these broader implementation requirements.
– This original article was created with AI support.
