Scottish company to unveil ultrafast ‘early diagnosis’ healthcare laser

The Edinburgh-based business said it is quickly building on its network of international customers, including Sandia National Laboratories, Harvard and the USAF.

Sales in the UK have previously been focussed on the university sector, with its new healthcare focussed product now creating much broader commercial applications. 

Chromacity develops and manufactures ultrafast, tuneable, compact and affordable infra-red lasers used in quantum applications, microscopy, spectroscopy and advanced research.

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The company’s new 920 product is “ideally suited for medical imaging, providing an affordable light source used in medical diagnostics including biological imaging of collagen, which can deliver early diagnosis in a wide range of medical conditions”.

It added: “The 920 helps illuminate collagen, the primary building block of the body’s skin, muscles, bones, tendons and ligaments, and other connective tissues allowing researchers to probe inside living cells by generating a pulse of light as small as 100 femtoseconds in duration.”

A femtosecond is one quadrillionth, or one millionth of one billionth of a second, the firm said. 

“The short pulse brings significant benefits to the user because the period of time the laser is active is very short meaning there is little collateral damage to the sample being examined.”

Chromacity has also been awarded funding from the Innovate UK programme to create a new monitoring instrument using its patented infra-red laser technology to provide real-time measurements of key greenhouse gases including methane and ethane, as well as ammonia to support the drive towards net zero in agriculture.

The company confirmed the appointment of Julian Hayes, a technology business leader who has held directorial positions with Gas Sensing Solutions and Power Photonic, which also trade internationally from Scotland, as chief executive.

He joins a board that includes industry experts, Robert Black, an experienced executive and non-executive director in the photonics, IT and robotics industries, Richard Laming, a successful academic, founder, executive and non-executive director of technology businesses spanning optoelectronics, MEMS and electronics, and investor director Graham Miller, who is director of global sales and business development at Agilent Technologies.

Mr Hayes said: “Designing and manufacturing state-of-the-art ultrafast infra-red lasers brings huge value and efficiencies to the global healthcare market. Our new 920 builds on a decade of research and IP development to extend our product roadmap.”

Andrew McNeill from Eos and Susie Fisher from Kelvin Capital said in a joint statement: “Chromacity is at the forefront of knowledge-intensive engineering in Scotland and both Eos and Kelvin, with co-investment from Scottish Enterprise are proud to have helped them develop their range.

“The coming years are now focussed on engaging in new UK and international markets, including biological imaging. The funding from the Innovate UK programme also highlights the broad applications of the company’s patented technology in agricultural sustainability.”

Kerry Sharp, director of entrepreneurship and investment at Scottish Enterprise said: “Chromacity is a fantastic example of an innovative company with global ambitions, capable of scaling quickly. As an existing investor, we’re excited to see the company make progress towards its goals.”