PITTSBURGH, March 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Dr. Doros Platika, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of The Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse (PLSG), the private/public partnership putting the region’s life sciences industry on a fast track for growth, today announced PLSG has invested $100,000 in NeuroLife Noninvasive Solutions, which is developing a noninvasive device to accurately monitor brain pressure. The investment is provided under the PLSG’s Technology Development Fund (TDF) program.
The company, which is led by two physicians, Ernest Braxton and Daniel McChesney, is focused on development of a tool that measures intracranial pressure, allowing medical professionals to better diagnose and treat head injured patients at risk for brain damage and death.
“Unlike many other noninvasive medical tests, brain pressure is still measured invasively by boring a hole through the skull and inserting a catheter into the brain, placing head injured patients at risk for brain infections and brain damage,” said Daniel McChesney M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of NeuroLife. “To know this is to understand the advantages and promise of NeuroLife’s noninvasive iSCAN technology. The iSCAN device detects elevated brain pressure through the eye using a camera, fiber optics and proprietary software to measure changes in the eye’s blood supply.”
iSCAN’s measurement of the eye’s blood supply uses a technique similar to that used by eye doctors to measure the blood pressure of the eye by pressing gently against the eye until the retinal artery collapses temporarily. Because of the close relationship between the eye and the brain, small changes in the eye’s blood supply often correlate with brain pressure.
“Through the use of this noninvasive technology, we reduce the risks of possible infection, brain damage, and bleeding associated with invasive procedures,” said Dr. Braxton, NeuroLife’s Chief Scientific Officer. “The mortality and disability rate associated with the measurement of brain pressure will likely improve with the application of the iSCAN. We are currently in the prototype phase, and will move into FDA trials in 2007.”
About the Technology Development Fund (TDF)
The Technology Development Fund is a competitive funding program designed to increase the commercialization potential of life science technologies developed by the region’s scientists and entrepreneurs. The intent is to provide financial support to verify the technical and commercial feasibility of early stage inventions that will accelerate and increase the likelihood that the technology will be successfully commercialized through a regional start-up company. These funds can be used in conjunction with or to leverage other early sources of funding.
About the PLSG
The Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse is a public/private partnership, founded by the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University, UPMC Health System, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and its regional foundation community. Together with private industry and advanced research and healthcare capabilities of our institutional partners, PLSG invests in and supports the growth of regional life sciences companies in the areas of: bioinformatics; bionanotechnology; diagnostics; medical devices; medical robotics; therapeutics; and tools and services.
Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse
CONTACT: Tim O’Brien of O’Brien Communications, +1-412-854-8845; or LynnBanaszak Brusco of Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse, +1-412-770-1353
Web site: http://www.plsg.com//
