The Kiel-based start-up QuantView, a spin-off from Kiel University (CAU), has developed an innovative procedure that makes magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) significantly more sensitive. The highlight: with a new type of contrast agent and signal amplification technology, even the smallest tumor remnants can be made visible, which conventional MRI does not detect.

Founded in 2023, the company has been operational since the license agreements with the CAU were signed. At the beginning of July, Schleswig-Holstein’s Science Minister Dr. Dorit Stenke visited QuantView for the official launch. The core of the technology is a patented pyruvate-based contrast agent that utilizes metabolic differences between healthy and cancer cells. Tumor cells generate a distinctive signal in the MRI due to increased lactic acid production. The PHIP+ method (Parahydrogen Induced Polarization) amplifies the MRI signal by a factor of 24,000, making even minimal metabolic changes visible.

The technology, originally developed by Professor Rainer Herges’ team, was optimized in collaboration with the CAU. Polarization now only takes two minutes instead of hours, and the devices are more compact and less expensive. QuantView is planning its first clinical trials for 2026, which are to be financed by public funding and investors. The company is also aiming to grant licenses to industrial partners.

The CAU supports QuantView through patenting, technology transfer and free infrastructure as part of the new spin-off funding. In addition to Herges, the team consists of chemist Dr. Arne Brahms and entrepreneur Dr. Stefan Kloth.

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