RESEARCH FIRM TAKES LEAD SENSOR TO MARKET.

Byline: R.A. Hutchinson Daily News Staff Writer

For 10 years, researchers at Xsirius Inc. have toiled quietly at developing high-tech scientific instruments for use in detecting tumors, and identifying chemical compounds and atmospheric gases on faraway planets.

Existing solely on grants since the company's founding, the team of scientists at Xsirius has developed analytical tools for the National Institutes of Health, NASA, Stanford and the University of California, Los Angeles.

Now Xsirius is going commercial with a hand-held detection device that can sense the presence of lead. Xsirius, incorporated in 1985, also is changing its name to Advanced Detectors Inc. to better reflect its emergence as a commercial entity.

"It's basically been a think tank. Now we want to bring that expertise to market. What we want to do is strike a balance between our research and the practical application of our work," said company President James H. Gerberman.

Gerberman, who came on board in July to guide the company's transition into the commercial arena, said Xsirius plans to market LeadStar to inspection companies that evaluate homes and apartments. The hand-held instrument reads electron activity to determine whether lead is present and in what concentration.

"We've just started marketing it. We've been taking it to trade shows," Gerberman said. "I think our biggest challenge will be, as a new company, to convince (customers) of what we can do without having an established track record to back us."

Gerberman said Xsirius also carefully mapped out the timing to bring LeadStar to market. Several new disclosure laws have been passed at the state and federal levels forcing homeowners to conduct extensive inspections of their homes for hazards such as radon, asbestos and lead.

"Some of those laws aren't in effect yet, but they're supposed to be implemented this year. We wanted to be on the curve, or ahead of it," Gerberman said.

The company assembles part of the LeadStar product at its site in Camarillo and completes production at facilities in Santa Barbara.

"This product is our first step. We hope to use it as a platform for developing other portable instrumentation," Gerberman said.

As a public company, Xsirius trades on the Over the Counter stock exchange under XSIR. With its new name, the company will trade under the symbol ADET.

As-yet undeveloped products could grow from a number of research areas and collaborations the company has established. For example, LeadStar came out of a joint venture with the Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute in St. Petersburg, Russia.

In the medical field, Gerberman said the National Institute of Health is sponsoring tests at UCLA Medical Center of a detector that uses mercuric iodide to locate brain tumors. The detector would be used during operations to assist surgeons in locating the tumor.

Also, Xsirius is working with Stanford University to perfect a photo-detector that could be used for the noninvasive diagnosis of breast tumors.

"Currently they have to do a biopsy to make a diagnosis," Gerberman said. "In these two (projects) we have a very sensitive, compact detector that can get very close to the tumor."

In the space arena, Xsirius is working with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to install a detector that will be planted by a probe in the surface of Mars. The device will evaluate the chemical composition of the soil and air near the surface of the planet.

"We have a very strong technological base," he said. "We want to use our technological expertise and develop it toward commercial applications."

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Photo (1--CONEJO only--color) LeadStar, created by Xsirius Inc. of Camarillo, detects lead in paint, and will be marketed to firms that inspect homes and apartments. (2--ran in CONEJO edition only) Xsirius Inc. President Jim Gerberman is taking his research company into commercial enterprises. Dusty Locke/Special to the Daily News