Perceptive Informatics, the technology subsidiary of Parexel International Corporation, has made available a new medical imaging capability known as the Double Reference Tissue Method (DRTM). Based upon magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), this technique helps to evaluate blood flow to tumors with increased precision. Certain compounds in clinical development to treat cancer have as their mechanism of action the ability to decrease blood supply to tumors.

DRTM was developed by the University of Chicago and is being commercialized by Perceptive Informatics for the first uses by the bio/pharmaceutical industry in clinical development programs.
 
"DRTM will mean significant progress for clinical research since it produces higher quality data for greater visibility into drug activity," said Dr. Cheng Yang, professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Chicago. "We are pleased that this new imaging method now has broader availability and benefit to the biopharmaceutical industry."

The Double Reference Tissue Method is part of Perceptive Informatics' portfolio of imaging techniques, used from early development through peri-approval studies.