BiOxyDyn, a Manchester-based MRI business, has secured a new £1.2 million round from two early stage technology investors.

The deal sees The North West Fund for Biomedical, managed by SPARK Impact, and MTI Ventures, through its UMIP Premier Fund, back the company.

BiOxyDyn is a spin-out from the University of Manchester and UMIP’s Proof of Principle programme.

It has developed technology which is used in conjunction with an MRI scan to produce what it calls ‘better quality’ images, particularly of the lungs.

The new growth capital will be used to expand its imaging service business and develop its technology into a diagnostic product.

The business cites the ‘millions of people’ worldwide which are affected by lung conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma, as a demand for better imaging, leading to a more accurate diagnosis and improved patient monitoring.

BiOxyDyn founder Geoff Parker says that the business now offers a professional and accredited imaging service to pharma.

‘With this investment we will expand this service into a product that lung clinicians can use around the world,’ he adds.

‘We would like to thank MTI Partners for their support in helping us establish BiOxyDyn, and we would like to thank SPARK Impact for joining in our vision and committing to work with us over the next few years.’

The transaction represents the 25th investment closed by the North West Fund for Biomedical, a £25 million fund managed by SPARK Impact, since its launch in February 2011. It is a sub-fund of The North West Fund, which is provided by the European Investment Bank and the European Regional Development Fund.

It is open to companies based in, or prepared to relocate to, the North West of England, with 40 per cent of the fund to be invested on Merseyside.

Petty Attridge, senior investment director at SPARK Impact and fund manager for The North West Fund for Biomedical, says, ‘This technology has the potential to make a big impact in the lung diagnostics market and beyond so it’s exciting to be able to invest in this company.’