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About Echo Medical Systems, LLC.

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| Company Background | Our Technology | Publications and Presentations |


Company Background

Echo Medical Systems is a Houston-based company that develops, manufactures, and markets NMR-MRI and CT-based whole body composition and tissue characterization equipment for use by metabolic research laboratories, the pharmaceutical industry and hospitals, and other medical facilities. Echo's class-defining EchoMRI™ technology is unique: it facilitates low-cost, rapid, highly precise, in-vivo measurements of humans and animals without anesthesia or sedation.

The EchoMRI™ proprietary method for tissue characterization provides measurements of whole body composition parameters: fat mass, lean tissue mass, free water, and total body water. The data obtained by EchoMRI™ are highly correlated to those obtained by DEXA, but the measurement procedure is faster and does not require anesthesia. In fact, the measurement duration is about 1 minute for mice and rats and about 3 minutes for humans.

Today, many EchoMRI™ and LaTheta™ systems are successfully used by more than 45 pharmaceutical companies and many leading research universities in the US, Canada, Europe, and Asia for preclinical obesity research in live animals. As drug development progresses from animal studies to human trials, there has been growing demand from Echo customers to apply EchoMRI™ in clinical trials for adult humans. As a result, Echo has developed a new EchoMRI™ system for adult humans, aimed at providing a solution to the pharmaceutical industry for testing the efficacy in clinical trials of anti-obesity and metabolic drugs and treatments.

Echo has a strong position in the underlying technology and methods of NMR-MRI-CT-based whole body and tissue composition analysis, and sophisticated proprietary know-how for tissue characterization applications in obesity, diabetes, nutrition research, pharmacology, osteoporosis, and cardiology. Beyond the existing applications, extensions of the technology are underway to measure additional body composition parameters.

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Our Technology

EchoMRI™ Quantitative Magnetic Resonance Body Composition Analyzers for animals and humans take direct measurements of total body fat, lean mass, free water, and total body water. The measurement principle depends on the density of hydrogen nuclei and the physical state of the tissue.

More rapid, accurate, and precise than other methods, EchoMRI™ technology allows for fast measurements (about 1min for mice and rats and less than 3min for humans) in vivo without anesthesia or sedation. Unlike DEXA, Echo measurements are radiation-free, do not require the subject to remain still, and in a peer-reviewed study yielded 24 times DEXA's precision facilitating convenient, low-stress repeated tracking of small changes in body composition. Moreover, Echo instruments measure fat and lean mass as an independent characteristics, unlike DEXA, which measures the fat to lean ratio and is, therefore, prone to error propagation from lean to fat. The systems are much less expensive than conventional MRI, are completely silent, and do not require advanced training to use.

In short, EchoMRI™ is the only technology on the market today which allows body composition analyses to be conducted in such a short period of time, with such a high level of precision, without the need for anesthesia or sedation of the test subject(s), with the subjects entirely comfortable during and in preparation for the measurement, and with no radiation to be considered as a health issue.

To learn more about features and benefits of EchoMRI™ Systems, click here.

LaTheta™ CT Scanner: Designed for small animals and intended especially for the in-vivo small animal research, the LaTheta™ CT scanner possesses several distinctive features. Thus, its 60X-more sensitive detector than those of other micro CTs allows work to be conducted with a low energy x-ray source, thus reducing subject radiation exposure to 2-8 mSv and greatly increasing the ability to conduct longitudinal studies. Moreover, the scanner’s detector is extremely fast in terms of scanning and reconstruction times (4.5 seconds to 8 minutes depending on the region of interest), enabling results viewing during an acquisition and the freedom to make parameter modifications even after the first slice is displayed. In addition, the high contrast and remarkably low noise level provide excellent resolution when comparing tissues of a similar density (i.e. visceral organs).

Furthermore, LaTheta™ accommodates a wide range of animals, including rats up to 1.5 kg. Its quantification of the scanned images implemented in the software includes visceral, subcutaneous and total fat volume, BMD, mechanical strength and morphology with automatic cortical/trabecular bone recognition, etc. The software is very easy to operate and does not require any special training. Finally, LaTheta™ is conveniently compact and mobile (four casters attached for high mobility), and its low outside radiation exposure enables researchers to use it in any room. Learn more about LaTheta™ CT Scanner here.

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Publications and Presentations

| 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 |


    2001

  1. Tinsley, FC., Taicher, GZ., Heiman, ML. (October 7-10, 2001) Novel NMR technology provides quick and precise body composition measurement of live mice. NAASO 2001 Meeting, Quebec City, Canada.

    2. 2002

  2. Taicher, GZ., Tinsley, FC., Craney, S., Heiman, ML. (February 2002) Novel NMR technology demonstates altered body composition after short term dietary change. Am J Clin Nutr. 75(2):358S. (Presented at the Nutrition Week Annual Meeting and Conference, San Diego, CA, February 23-27, 2002.)
  3. Taicher, GZ. (September 2002) NMR methods for in-vitro and in-vivo analysis of bone tissue and whole body composiion. The 8th Annual Society for Biomolecular Screening Conference & Exhibition, The Hague,the Netherlands.
  4. Taicher, GZ. (November 2002) Wide-line NMR method for whole body composition analysis. The 41st Eastern Analytial Symposium & Exposition, Somerset, NJ.

    5. 2003

  5. Abu-Elheiga, L., Oh, W., Kordari, P., Wakil, SJ. (2003) Acetyl-CoA carboxylase 2 mutant mice are protected against obesity and diabetes induced by high-fat/high-carbohydrate diets. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA; 100(18):10207-12.
  6. Taicher, GZ., Tinsley, FC., Reiderman A., Heiman ML. (2003) Quantitative Magnetic Resonance (QMR) method for bone and whole body composition analysis. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry; Special Issue: Bio-Imaging; 377(6):990-1002.
  7. Taicher, GZ. (October 11-15, 2003) Quantitative Magnetic Resonance (QMR) for whole body composiion analysis of mice, rats and infants. NAASO 2003 Meeting, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
  8. Tinsley, FC., Heiman, ML. (October 11-15, 2003) Change in rat body composition without altering body weight was observed by switching diets. NAASO 2003 Meeting, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
  9. York D., McLaughlin, L. (October 11-15, 2003) Is physical activity a normal response of mice to prevent dietary induced obesity? NAASO 2003 Meeting, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

    10. 2004

  10. Maglich, JM., Watson, J., McMillen, PJ., Goodwin, B., Willson, TM., Moore, JT. (2004) The nuclear receptor CAR is a regulator of thyroid hormone metabolism during caloric restriction. J. Biol. Chem. 279 (19): 19832-19838.
  11. Strader, AD., Reizes, O., Woods, SC., Benoit, SC., Seeley, RJ. (2004) Mice lacking the syndecan-3 gene are resistant to diet-induced obesity . J. Clin. Invest.; 114:1354-1360.
  12. Tinsley, FC., Taicher, GZ., Heiman, ML. (2004) Evaluation of a new Quantitative Magnetic Resonance (QMR) method for whole body composition analysis of mice. Obesity Research; 12:150-160.

    13. 2005

  13. Chen, X., Liang, Y., Demarest, K. (May 16-18, 2005) Application of new technology, Echo MRI Body Mass Composition Analyzer, in metabolic research. Discovery Strategies Conference: Improving the Predictive Value of the Laboratory Mouse in Drug Discovery, The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine.
  14. Hsiung, HM., Hertel, J., Zhang, X., Smith, DP., Smiley, DL., Heiman, ML., Yang, DD., Husain, S., Mayer, JP., Zhang, L., Mo, H., Yan, LZ. (2005) A novel and selective β-melanocyte-stimulating hormone-derived peptide agonist for melanocortin 4 receptor potently decreased food intake and body weight gain in diet-induced obese rats. Endocrinology; Vol. 146, No. 12 5257-5266.
  15. Kowalski, TJ., Spar, BD., Markowitz, L., Maguire, M., Golovko, A., Yang, S., Farley, C., Cook, JA., Tetzloff, G., Hoos, L., Del Vecchio, RA., Kazdoba, TM., McCool, MF., Hwa, JJ., Hyde, LA., Davis, H., Vassileva, G., Hedrick, JA., Gustafson, EL. (2005) Transgenic overexpression of neuromedin U promotes leanness and hypophagia in mice. Journal of Endocrinology; 185, 151-164.
  16. Okamoto, H., Obici, S., Accili, D., Rossetti, L. (2005) Restoration of liver insulin signaling in Insr knockout mice fails to normalize hepatic insulin action. J. Clin. Invest.; 115:1314-1322.
  17. Talsania, T., Anini, Y., Siu, S., Drucker, DJ., Brubaker, PL. (2005) Peripheral exendin-4 and peptide YY 3-36 synergistically reduce food intake through different mechanisms in mice. Endocrinology; Vol. 146, No. 9 3748-3756.

    18. 2006

  18. Akashi, Y., Springer, J., Palus, S., Datta, R., Halem, H., Dong, J., Culler, M., Anker, S. (2006) The administration of human ghrelin attenuates development of cardiac cachexia in rats with heart failure. Aktuelle Ernährungsmedizin.
  19. Berryman, DE., List, EO., Kohn, DT., Coschigano, KT., Seeley, RJ., Kopchick, JJ. (2006) Effect of growth hormone on susceptibility to diet-induced obesity. Endocrinology; Vol. 147, No. 6 2801-2808.
  20. Champy, MF., Argmann, CA., Chambon, P., Auwerx, J. (May 2006) Exploration of metabolic and endocrine function in the mouse. (Chapter 5) In de Angelis, HM., Chambon, P., and Brown, S. (eds.) Standards of mouse model phenotyping. Wiley-VCH, Weinheim.
  21. Clegg, DJ., Brown, LM., Woods, SC., Benoit, SC. (2006) Gonadal hormones determine sensitivity to central leptin and insulin. Diabetes; 55:978-987.
  22. Ellis, KJ., Shypailo, RJ., Kovner, I., Taicher, GZ. (October 20-23, 2006) Body composition analysis using quantitative magnetic resonance (QMR). NAASO 2006 Meeting, Boston, Massachusetts.
  23. Klover, P., Hennighausen, L. (2006) Postnatal body growth is dependent on the transcription factors Stat5a/b in muscle: a role for autocrine/ paracrine IGF-1. Endocrinology; Dec 7; [Epub ahead of print]
  24. LaPensee, CR., Horseman, ND., Tso, P., Brandebourg, TD., Hugo ER., Ben-Jonathan, N. (2006) The prolactin-deficient mouse has an unaltered metabolic phenotype. Endocrinology; Vol. 147, No. 10 4638-4645.
  25. Lloyd, DJ., Bohan, S., Gekakis, N. (2006) Obesity, hyperphagia and increased metabolic efficiency in Pc1 mutant mice. Human Molecular Genetics; Vol. 15, No. 11 1884-1893.
  26. Taicher, GZ. (July 20, 2006) EchoMRI Quantitative Magnetic Resonance Method for Bone Analysis. DSLS Brown Bag Seminar Series, Division of Space Life Sciences (DSLS), NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas.
  27. Theander-Carrillo, C., Wiedmer, P., Cettour-Rose, P., Nogueiras, R., Perez-Tilve, D., Pfluger, P., Castaneda, TR., Muzzin, P., Schürmann, A., Szanto, I., Tschöp, MH., Rohner-Jeanrenaud, F. (2006) Ghrelin action in the brain controls adipocyte metabolism. J. Clin. Invest.; 116:1983-1993.
  28. Wagener, A., Schmitt, AO., Aksu, S., Schlote, W., Neuschl, C., Brockmann, GA. (2006) Genetic, sex, and diet effects on body weight and obesity in the Berlin Fat Mouse Inbred lines. Physiol. Genomics; 27:264-270.

    29. 2007

  29. Allan, G., Lai, MT., Sbriscia, T., Linton, O., Haynes-Johnson, D., Bhattacharjee, S., Dodds, R., Fiordeliso, J., Lanter, J., Sui, Z., Lundeen, S. (January 2007) A selective androgen receptor modulator that reduces prostate tumor size and prevents orchidectomy-induced bone loss in rats. The Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 103 (1), 76-83.
  30. Chelikani, PK., Haver, AC., Reidelberger, RD. (April 11, 2007) Intermittent intraperitoneal infusion of peptide YY(3-36) reduces daily food intake and adiposity in obese rats . Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol; 0: 00164.2007v1.
  31. Chelikani, PK., Haver, AC., Reidelberger, RD. (August 29, 2007) Effects of intermittent intraperitoneal infusion ofsalmon calcitonin on food intake and adiposity in obese rats. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol.; doi:10.1152
  32. Coskun, T., Schneider, MA., Bina, H., Kharitonenkov, A. (January 14-19, 2007) Differential metabolic effects of fibroblast growth factor (FGF) 19 in diet-induced obese (DIO) c57/bl6 mice or DIO Long-Evans (LE) rats, or leptin-deficient ob/ob obese mice. Keystone Simposia on Molecular and Cellular Biology, Keystone Resort, Keystone, CO.
  33. Drew, JE., Farquharson, AJ., Padidar, S., Duthie, GG., Mercer, JG., Arthur, JR., Morrice, PC.,Barrera, LN. (July 26, 2007) Insulin, leptin, and adiponectin receptors in colon: regulation relative to differing body adiposity independent of diet and in response to dimethylhydrazine. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol.; 293: G682-G691, 2007.
  34. Duncan, EA., Sorrell, JE., Adamantidis, A., Rider, T., Jandacek, RJ., Seeley, RJ., Lakaye, B., Woods, SC. (2007) Alcohol drinking in MCH receptor-1-deficient mice. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research; 31 (8), 1325–1337.
  35. Harrington, WW., Britt, CS., Wilson, JG., Milliken, NO., Binz, JG., Lobe, DC., Oliver, WR., Lewis, MC., Ignar, DM. (2007) The effect of PPARα, PPARδ, PPARγ, and PPARpan agonists on body weight, body mass, and serum lipid profiles in Diet-Induced Obese AKR/J mice. PPAR Research, vol. 2007, Article ID 97125, 13 pages.
  36. Hu, E., Wos, JA., Dowty, ME., Suchanek, PM., Chambers, JW., Benoit, SC., Clegg, DJ., Reizes, O. (October 9, 2007) Small-molecule melanin-concentrating hormone-1 receptor antagonists require brain penetration for inhibition of food intake and reduction in body weight. Journal of Pharmacology And Experimental Therapeutics.; 2007 Oct; 11 DOI: 10.1124. [Published online October 11, 2007 ]
  37. Kim, J., Wall, E., Laplante, M., Azzara, A., Trujillo, ME., Hofmann, S., Schraw, T., Durand, JL., Li, H., Li, G., Jelicks, LA., Mehler, MF., Hui, DY., Deshaies, Y., Shulman, GI., Schwartz, GJ., Scherer, PE. (September 4, 2007) Obesity-associated improvements in metabolic profile through expansion of adipose tissue. J. Clin. Invest.; 117(9): 2621-2637 (2007). doi:10.1172
  38. Li, G., Vega, R., Nelms, K., Gekakis, N., Goodnow, C., McNamara, P., Wu, H., Hong, NA., Glynne, R. (January 2007) A Role for Alström syndrome protein, Alms1, in kidney ciliogenesis and cellular quiescence. PLoS Genet.; 3(1): e8. [Published online January 5, 2007 ]
  39. Lo, C., Samuelson, LC., Chambers, JB., King, A., Heiman, J., Jandacek, RJ., Sakai, RR., Benoit, SC., Raybould, HE., Woods, SC., Tso, P. (December 21, 2007) Characterization of mice lacking the gene for cholecystokinin. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol.; (December 26, 2007). doi:10.1152
  40. Lobley, GE., Bremner, DM., Holtrop, G., Johnstone, AM., Maloney, C. (June, 2007) Impact of high-protein diets with either moderate or low carbohydrate on weight loss, body composition, blood pressure and glucose tolerance in rats. British Journal of Nutrition.; 97(6):1099-1108, June 2007.
  41. London, E., Lala, G., Berger, R., Panzenbeck, A., Kohli, AA., Renner, M., Jackson, A., Raynor, T., Loya, K., Castonguay, TW. (December 2007) Sucrose access differentially modifies 11ß-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenase-1 and Hexose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase message in liver and adipose tissue in rats. American Society for Nutrition.; J. Nutr. 137:2616-2621, December 2007
  42. Nguyen MMN., Tamashiro, KLK., Melhorn, SJ., Ma, LY., Gardner, SR, Sakai, RR. (September 2007) Androgenic influences on behavior, body weight, and body composition in a model of chronic social stress.. Endocrinology.; doi:10.1210/en.2007-0471, September 2007
  43. Pfluger, PT., Kirchner, H., Gunnel, S., Schrott, B., Perez-Tilve, D., Fu, S., Benoit, SC., Horvath, T., Joost, H., Wortley, KE., Sleeman, M., Tschop, MH. (November 29, 2007) Simultaneous deletion of ghrelin and its receptor increases motor activity and energy expenditure. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol.; doi:10.1152
  44. Shankar, K., Liu, X., Harrell, A., Ronis, M., Badger, T. (April 28, 2007) Fetal programming by maternal obesity increases offspring's susceptibility to obesity in later-life. The FASEB Journal.; 21(5):A324.
  45. Shankar, K., Harrell, A., Liu, X., Ronis, MJJ., Badger, TM. (April 28-May 2, 2007) Increased adipose de novo lipogenesis underlies high carbohydrate driven obesity: role of ChREBP. Experimental Biology 2007. Today's Research: Tomorrow's Health, Washington, DC.
  46. Taicher, GZ. (January 14-19, 2007) NMR and CT methods for tissue characterization. Keystone Simposia on Molecular and Cellular Biology, Keystone Resort, Keystone, CO.
  47. Taicher, GZ. (June 2-5, 2007) Advanced NMR and CT methods for endocrinology research. The Endocrine Society Annual Meeting, Toronto, Canada.
  48. Tamashiro, KLK., Hegeman, MA., Nguyen, MMN, Melhorn, SJ, Ma, LY., Woods, SC, Sakai, RR. (September 2007) Dynamic body weight and body composition changes in response to subordination stress. Physiol Behav.; doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2007.04.004., September 2007

    49. 2008

  49. Napolitano A, Miller SR, Murgatroyd PR, Coward WA, Wright A, Finer N, De Bruin TW, Bullmore ET, Nunez DJ. (January 16, 2008) Validation of a quantitative magnetic resonance method for measuring human body composition. Obesity (Silver Spring).; 2008 Jan; 16(1):191-8. [Published online January 16, 2008 ]

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