GRENOBLE, France and CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts, April 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Fluoptics, a French company specialized in fluorescence image-guided surgery, announced today that it has opened an office in Cambridge (Massachusetts, USA) for the sales and marketing of its innovative solutions for preclinical in vivo fluorescence imaging.

Fluoptics develops integrated solutions combining a non-radioactive fluorescent tracer targeting cancer cells and a real-time optical imaging system called Fluobeam^TM. This proprietary device, which is due to enter clinical trials this year in Europe, is already available to the preclinical research market, where more than 15 units have been sold worldwide.

"The development of our activities in North America is a strategic decision following increased interest from US labs in our innovative solutions, after the first sale of Fluobeam^TM to a reference laboratory in Wisconsin," says Odile Allard, CEO of Fluoptics. "We will now work on accelerating the distribution of our preclinical instruments in the US and Canada directly or through key partnerships."

For preclinical research, the in vivo fluorescence imaging systems Fluobeam™ are already used with small and large animals, in fields such as cancer, drug development, cardiovascular, inflammation and infectious diseases. The Fluobeam^TM design is unique with its hand-held optical head and its live acquisition of the fluorescent signal.

Once approved for the clinical market, Fluoptics' technology will assist surgeons in the operating room in seeing what the naked eye cannot see. For example, in cancer surgery, it will allow "illuminating" cancer cells that will become visible in real time to the surgeon performing the resection of cancerous tumors, using natural light.

About Fluoptics

Founded in 2009, Fluoptics develops and markets innovative solutions in the fields of preclinical imaging and image-guided surgery. This technology has many applications, among others in oncology, for the detection and resection of tumours and metastasis, but also during surgery for lymph nodes detection, cardiovascular imaging, and liver research. The technology has been awarded many prizes and benefits from a portfolio of patents from Fluoptics' research partners. Based in Grenoble, Fluoptics has 11 employees for a turnover of 560 k€ in 2011. See also :  http://www.fluoptics.com

SOURCE Fluoptics