The Science
Every living cell emits light. Cancer changes the pattern. HelioFlux reads that change at 5-10 million cells, long before imaging, blood tests, or symptoms.
The Physics
All living cells continuously emit ultra-weak photon emissions (UPEs), faint light produced as a byproduct of oxidative metabolism. The intensity and spectral pattern of these emissions is a direct readout of cellular metabolic state.
In cancer, metabolic stress produces a measurably different emission profile. Malignant cells emit a characteristic spectral signature, inverted relative to healthy tissue, detectable at as few as 5-10 million cells. That's before a tumor forms, before any imaging can see it, and before most liquid biopsies can detect circulating DNA.
The key insight is not the brightness of the signal, but its spectral shape and directional profile. Cancer cells invert the healthy-tissue emission pattern, a distinction detectable even at very early cell counts.
Detection Threshold
A tumor at 5-10 million cells is about 2 millimeters across. Too small to feel. Invisible on a scan. By the time it reaches 1 billion cells, roughly a centimeter, medicine can finally see it. That growth took 1.5 to 2 years. HelioFlux is built to find it first.
Deep Dive
QSense captures raw photon emission data at single-photon sensitivity. LuminAI then runs spectral power density analysis, decomposing the signal by wavelength and frequency to extract the emission fingerprint.
The AI compares that fingerprint against a validated database of cancer and healthy-tissue signatures, built from three peer-reviewed studies across 13 cancer cell lines and 47 living animal models. The output: a biomarker classification with a confidence score. Powered by NVIDIA computing infrastructure.
A HelioFlux scan takes approximately 15 minutes. The patient sits comfortably while QSense reads photon emissions from the target area. No needles. No contrast agents. No ionizing radiation. No preparation required.
LuminAI processes the data in real time. The clinician receives a biomarker classification during the same visit, not weeks later. For patients, it feels closer to having your temperature taken than getting a biopsy.
Standard imaging (CT, MRI, mammography) requires roughly 1 billion cells before it can detect a tumor. By that point, cancer has been growing silently for years.
Only breast, cervical, colorectal, lung, and prostate cancers have USPSTF-recommended screening. Over 200 types have none. High costs ($10K+ out-of-pocket for multi-cancer panels) delay or prevent screening, especially in underserved communities.
For cancers like ovarian and pancreatic, the average time from symptom to diagnosis exceeds six months. HelioFlux is designed to change that math entirely.
"The goal is not just to detect cancer. It's to detect it so early that the word 'treatment' starts to feel like overkill."
Dr. Nirosha Murugan · Chief Scientist
Published Research