Impact case study database

Human brain imaging is critical for both clinical practice and neuroscience research. The technologies currently in use, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and positron emission tomography (PET) are expensive, immobile and require designated hospital space or research facilities. For example, the systems cannot be used to monitor the brain at the hospital bedside, at home, or in an ambulance. Also, they are unsuitable for studying the brain during a task involving movement, or during human interactions. These systems also require the subject to remain motionless for several minutes during the procedure, inhibiting studies of the developing brain in babies and toddlers. Through UCL-led innovations and commercialisation via a UCL spin-out company, Gowerlabs, the DOT system has been adapted and developed to provide high-quality, real-time images of human brain function in a truly wearable package that is now in use worldwide, both for research and development and by large corporations such Facebook and Apple. The products have generated revenues of GBP2,762,000 to date and are providing new ways to explore brain activity in real time.

Product innovation and application

Building on UCL-led research, Gowerlabs has developed three key product lines:

• The benchtop NTS brain mapping system ( R1)

• The patented, wearable and fibreless fNIRS brain imaging system LUMO ( R3)

• A range of optical phantoms that mimic human tissues ( R5, R6).

The NTS benchtop imaging system has had significant clinical impact and is considered to have “ paved the road towards a new understanding of neuroplasticity mechanisms following reconstructive surgery” ( S1). However, in common with most existing DOT devices, it requires a large number of bulky optical fibres to carry light to and from the head, which limits its possible applications. To address these limitations, Gowerlabs built on the early microNTS work ( R3) to develop the world’s first commercial, high-density, fibreless DOT system, LUMO, which provides significantly higher resolution imaging than any other commercially available DOT device. The system’s novel design enables high-quality images of the brain to be obtained in almost any environment and the products have been used by companies and research institutions in Africa, Australia, China, Europe, UK and the US.

To help DOT device users validate new array designs and assess system performance, Gowerlabs has also developed the world’s first anatomically correct head phantoms. These have proven useful for both companies and clinicians. Vilber Lourmat, a Gowerlabs client, considers Gowerlabs to be “ the only company that can supply optical phantoms of the types we need for our application” ( S2).

Gowerlabs DOT systems are being used in clinical settings (eg Medlink, Australia) R&D settings (eg McMaster University Canada and Vilber Lourmat for cancer research), and by technology companies such as Facebook Reality Labs and Apple for their computer-brain interface research; and other technology companies such as Philips and Kingfar International Inc., China.

Gowerlabs systems has enabled “ modern machine learning techniques to accelerate brain computer interface (BCI) development for many different applications” ( S3) with improved accuracy when measuring brain activity in real time. For example, the application of the LUMO system allowed Facebook Reality Labs research on translating neural activity into text to achieve “ average error rates as low as 3% when tested with vocabularies of up to 300 words” compared to the previously “ limited error rates north of 60% for 100-word vocabularies” ( S3).

The Gowerlabs brain imaging systems have also enabled novel research on new-born babies’ brains, revealing new insights into infant malnutrition and autism, and have been featured in films on social media including Seeing Signs of Autism in Infrared by UCL Engineering (2013) and Brain Imaging Tool Seeks Signs Of Infant Malnutrition by SciDevNet (2015), engaging over 4,000 viewers in the process ( S4). Other coverage of how Gowerlabs DOT systems have been used in cutting edge research include: Brain Imaging Technology Designed for Babies – (November 2020), BBC News website; The Wonderful World of Babies – Episode 2 (2018; [TEXT REMOVED FOR PUBLICATION]); BBC World News Horizons 4, Episode 16 – The Brain (2014); BBC World Service Health Check – Babies’ Minds: The Truth about Life and Death (2014); BBC Horizon – Living with Autism (2014; [TEXT REMOVED FOR PUBLICATION]) ( S4).

Economic impact and sector development

Gowerlabs brain imaging systems have been purchased by technology industry leaders, such as Philips, Apple and Kingfar Int. and by academic institutions, such as Magdeburg University, Germany and Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Sweden, reaching an annual turnover of approximately [TEXT REMOVED FOR PUBLICATION] ( S5). Since August 2013, total sales of the NTS benchtop imaging system have reached [TEXT REMOVED FOR PUBLICATION], with more than two-thirds of products sold outside the UK. Total sales of the LUMO system since its launch in April 2019, have reached [TEXT REMOVED FOR PUBLICATION] to date and sales of tissue equivalent phantoms have reached [TEXT REMOVED FOR PUBLICATION] since December 2016.

The DOT imaging systems (NTS benchtop system and LUMO) have had a worldwide reach with units being sold in the UK (14 units), North America (8 units), China (6 units) Europe (9 units), Australia (3 units), Gambia (1 unit) and Bangladesh (1 unit). One of Gowerlabs’ Chinese distributors reports that “ The Lumo system has generated a great deal of interest throughout China” ( S6).

Gowerlabs has grown steadily since 2013 and currently employs full-time and part-time personnel equivalent to 5.0 FTE. Since 2013, interns and employees have joined the product development process “ from the first design concepts through to mass manufacturing” ( S7), through which “ invaluable skills and experiences” ( S8) were gained and transferred across the engineering industry as these personnel progressed on from Gowerlabs. A former employee with a consumer-focused design background stated: “ …(At Gowerlabs) I was exposed to several new engineering fields, including flexible printed circuit design, embedded system electronics and near-infrared optics… I have gained many important new skills and experiences from being immersed in the full range of their activities” ( S8).