Insightful Breast Cancer Innovation
Millions of women around the world are being helped by breast density screening software developed by Wellington company Matakina. Matakina’s Volpara suite of software allows medical professionals to better identify a woman’s potential to develop breast cancer and the probability of that cancer being detected by conventional screening.
Millions of women around the world are being helped by breast density screening software developed by Wellington company Matakina.
Matakina’s Volpara suite of software allows medical professionals to better identify a woman’s potential to develop breast cancer and the probability of that cancer being detected by conventional screening. Breast cancers can be hard to detect in dense breast tissue and with early diagnosis, the chances of successful treatment can be increased.
Matakina’s suite includes VolparaDose, Volpara Density and Volpara Analytics. As well as measuring breast density, the applications also tell how much radiation each woman has been exposed to, so that radiation dosage can be monitored and minimised. Other information can help clinics understand their patient population, operators and mammography systems to allow them to better manage their resources and identify areas for improvement, with patient experience being a key factor in screening attendance.
The software is currently used at around 155 locations in 29 countries, including Wellington Hospital and Auckland Breast Centre and St Marks Breast Centre in New Zealand. Current trials by Athena Breast Health Network in the US and the Dutch Breast Screening Organisation could lead to lucrative contracts from around the world.
The company recently undertook a major investment round to allow it to accelerate sales through cloud deployment.
“This will make Volpara accessible to markets anywhere in the world, open up new products and allow easy country wide deployments” says Chief Executive Ralph Highnam.
Matakina, the Maori word for double-check or review, was founded in 2009 by Ralph and Sir Michael Brady, an oncologist and professor at the University of Oxford in the UK.
Initially self-funded, the company has been assisted by Grow Wellington to obtain significant research and development investment funding through the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and other government agencies such as New Zealand Trade and Enterprise and Callaghan Innovation.
Grow Wellington also assisted with the funding and placement of a post-graduate intern with Matakina who subsequently became a full-time member of Matakina’s team.
“From the very start Grow Wellington has been great,” says Ralph. “In the UK there were EDAs but nowhere near as accessible as here in Wellington. We just walked in the door of Grow Wellington and were pointed to sources of funding and IP advice that were very beneficial.”
The company has grown from a staff of three to 25 employees and continues to base itself in Wellington.
“We were attracted to set up in Wellington by the quality of the talent that’s here. There are people with amazing image processing and engineering skills,” says Ralph. “We pick up contracts from those who have worked at companies like Weta or partners of those who are here for the Film and Digital industry that Wellington is known for. We’re really a global company choosing to be based here in Wellington.”
The company’s significant investment toward developing innovative and relevant solutions has been recognised with Volpara Solutions being awarded the 2014 Frost and Sullivan North American Award for Technology Innovation Leadership for Breast Cancer Detection. Matakina also took the top prize in the export section of the 2014 Wellington Gold Awards.