Press release

The underlying principle of the test involves the following steps: At first, a 13C methacetin solution is administered intravenously. Methacetin is metabolized in the liver to paracetamol and 13CO2 and the latter is exhaled in the breath. The exhaled air is collected via a respiratory mask. Subsequent measurement of 13CO2 in a detection device provides a quantitative determination of the liver capacity and thus the liver function.

“Liver surgery and liver transplantation often are very serious interventions” says Dr. Martin Stockmann, co‐founder of Humedics GmbH and co‐owner of the mentioned patent. “It is therefore a high medical need to determine liver function prior to this kind of interventions to better assess the prognosis and also after interventions to monitor recovery.” The LiMAx test fulfills these requirements. Liver diagnostic tests available on the market so far are of limited use for this purpose and do not provide a quantitative liver function analysis. The LiMAx test is a bedside test that can be performed prior, during and subsequent to surgery. And the liver surgeon at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin adds: “In liver surgery the LiMAx test provides added value to make correct therapeutic decisions and to improve therapy control.”