Hankiewicz receives honor from Tech Transfer Office

Janusz Hankiewicz, a member of the University of Colorado’s BioFrontiers Center and a research associate at UCCS, received the UCCS New Inventor of the Year Award from the Technology Transfer Office (TTO) for his efforts in developing and commercializing new medical imaging contrast agents.

Hankiewicz’s research focuses on diagnostic medical imaging techniques like magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (NMRI) and positron emission tomography (PET). Along with his UCCS colleagues, he has developed improved imaging procedures as well as several improved contrast agents – substances used to enhance the visibility of body structures like blood vessels during medical imaging procedures.

Recently, Hankiewicz and his collaborators were selected to receive a proof-of-concept award under the state of Colorado’s Bioscience Discovery and Evaluation Grant (BDEG) program. The grant will allow the team to further develop a novel contrast agent designed to provide precise internal temperature measurements, which can be used to detect some cancers and some types of inflammation.

In addition, temperature mapping is used to monitor the tissues surrounding metal implants during imaging procedures, and to guide certain therapeutic procedures. By providing precise, non-invasive 3D temperature sensing, this novel contrast agent represents a major improvement over conventional temperature monitoring, which is usually performed with invasive, single-point measurements.