X-ray evolution; the horse tech that’s set to transform healthcare

When a technician takes an X-ray, the characteristic white-on-black image appears because rays are absorbed and transmitted in different degrees by different tissues. Dense bone tissue absorbs more X-rays and appears white, enabling easy detection of fractures, dislocations, and joint problems.  

Muscle and organ tissue absorbs fewer X-rays and so appears dark, and largely indistinguishable from surrounding material. When soft tissue imaging is required in clinical or veterinary care, practitioners refer their patient on for MRI, ultrasound, or CT scans.

But that’s only half the story. X-rays are not just absorbed and transmitted by different materials; they experience a slight change in phase as they pass through. And it’s important because that phase change makes soft tissue easier to see. 

An advanced technique called ‘phase contrast imaging’ captures this change, levelling-up the traditional X-ray to also deliver images with the quality of MRI- and CT images. The cost of upgrading the millions of existing X-ray machines used in medical and veterinary care across the world means the tech has largely been confined to research fields. 

That’s what makes XREq’s solution so momentous. The Melbourne-based healthtech startup has engineered an  add-on that makes phase contrast imaging achievable on existing X-ray machines.   

“One is the standard X-ray. The second is an enhanced bone image like a CT scan, with higher resolution and greater detail. And the third is a soft tissue scan – and that’s huge, because in the past, you could only that do with ultrasound or MRI.”

“And a key feature is that our approach does not significantly disrupt the existing process of obtaining X-rays”. Furthermore, the three X-ray images can be obtained with less radiation dose than a conventional radiograph, approximately 50% less, which is very significant for clinical applications. 

It really is a breakthrough health technology in a world where advanced scanning is scarcely available in low- and middle-income countries; and – depending on the country’s public health system – costly even in wealthy ones.  

If you take your dog to the vet with a sore leg, the vet will take an X-ray, read the image, decide on care, and you’re away. But David explained that the needs of the thoroughbred industry are very different.

“They manage high-value animals, so there is a lot more information required to understand the animal’s health and optimise its performance. You can’t get all of that with an X-ray. Yet veterinary CT and MRI are expensive and require sedation, so they’re mostly confined to the big equine hospitals.” 

That presents an opportunity to work with local veterinary clinics to improve their service offering, by supplying CT- and MRI-like images that help equine vets make more informed decisions on care. And while thoroughbred horses might seem a bit niche, starting there is a calculated decision from an experienced startup campaigner.  

“With animals, there are significantly less regulations for emerging healthtech. We can go straight to market. And there’s a lot of demand,” explained David.  

“There are 35,000 registered racehorses in Victoria alone. Indicating a large Australian market. And we have team members overseas!”  

“We’re a startup, so we’re always looking for funding,” said David.  

“But we don’t need much, which is good and bad. Because a lot of institutional investors talk in millions, and we don’t need millions to develop this technology.”  

What XREq really need are strategic partners and investors. And specifically, vets to help test and refine the technology.  

“We have the MVP, but we want to work with target users to figure out the design of the product we take to market. Because it’s a very flexible concept,” explained David.  

“We’ve already got a few stakeholders helping us, but the more the merrier.” 

With an executive career in healthtech (including at pharma giant, Pfizer, US FDA and more) – plus leading experience in strategy and business development – David brings a unique skillset to XREq. Together with the XREq crack global team of business, clinical and technical people to unlock the potential of what he calls, “The most exciting program I’ve ever had.”

“The potential is enormous. It’s groundbreaking technology, and we really want to have as much impact as we can. That’s why we set up a global team from Day One.”  

Spread across Australia, Europe and the US, that team includes three physicist founders, a veterinary radiologist, an ex-government health executive, and an imaging expert who’s successfully exited three imaging CROs [contract research organisations.]  

“The advantage of a global team is that, as we look to develop the other use cases, we’ve got people in various markets who can leverage their networks to pull in the talent we need,” added David.

XREq is a platform tech that can easily be tailored to suit various use cases. The hardware stays largely the same – and any software modifications can be performed within a matter of hours by their development team. 

In the pipeline is XRVet for broader veterinary use, and XRClinical for human health applications. “But this tech is also relevant for food, for security; there’s countless use cases,” added David.  

“Clinical is obviously a huge opportunity. If you go to countries where their health system can’t afford expensive technologies like MRI or CT, we can have a profound impact,” said David.  

“There’s something like 2 billion chest X-rays done every year around the world. And our dosimetry measurements showed that exposure to radiation dropped by almost 50% when using our filter. While that’s not really important with horses, cutting down technician and patient exposure will be a significant advantage for our clinical offering.”  

But for now, XREqs focus is squarely on horses. “There’s growing community interest in the welfare of racehorses.” 

“We want every local vet to take up this technology and make improved outcomes possible for every horse – not just the ones who visit an equine hospital.”