SAN DIEGO, Oct. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SpectraScience, Inc. , a San Diego based medical device company, today announced that it has been awarded Japanese Patent number 4361683 for its Optical Biopsy Forceps System and Method of Sampling Tissue.
Jim Hitchin, SpectraScience’s CEO, commented, “This patent is another important addition to our expanding intellectual property portfolio. We now have 60 issued or pending patents across our WavSTAT(R) Optical Biopsy and LUMA(R) Cervical Imaging System products and believe this is another important and critical component of our strategy to enhance the value of our business and benefit our shareholders.”
The invention provides for an optical lumen or lumens that are placed coaxially with the cutting jaws of a biopsy forcep. This allows for an optical reading to be taken from the exact same spot as a physical tissue sample. When used with the WavSTAT Optical Biopsy System, it becomes a diagnostic tool to detect pre-cancer and cancer as well as a therapeutic tool for removal of suspect tissue. If necessary, the fiber optic can be easily removed so that other tools such as a cytology brush can be inserted coaxially.
Hitchin added, “We remain committed to the concept that accurate data acquisition and fast non-invasive diagnostic techniques are critical for earlier and more effective identification of normal, pre-cancerous or cancerous tissue. This is another SpectraScience invention that will make our screening devices more useful to the physician and, more importantly, more effective for the patient.”
SpectraScience holds approximately 60 patents worldwide that have been issued or are pending for its WavSTAT Optical Biopsy and LUMA Cervical Imaging Systems. These non-invasive optical devices are used to diagnose tissue quickly to determine if it is normal, pre-cancerous, or cancerous. The WavSTAT and LUMA Systems are currently approved by the FDA for detecting pre-cancerous and cancerous tissue in the colon and cervix, respectively. An evaluation of the WavSTAT for detection of pre-cancers in the throat (“Barrett’s esophagus”) is being tested.
About SpectraScience, Inc.
SpectraScience is a San Diego based medical device company that designs, develops, manufactures and markets spectrophotometry systems capable of determining whether tissue is normal, pre-cancerous or cancerous without physically removing tissue from the body. The WavSTAT Optical Biopsy System uses light to optically scan tissue and provide the physician with an immediate analysis. With FDA approval for sale in the U.S. and the CE Mark for the European Union, the WavSTAT System is the only commercially available product that incorporates this innovative technology for clinical use. The Company’s LUMA cervical imaging technology has received FDA approval for an optical non-invasive system that is proven to more effectively detect cervical cancer precursors than conventional methods available in the market today.
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause SpectraScience’s actual results to differ materially from results discussed in forward-looking statements. Readers are urged to carefully review and consider the various disclosures made by SpectraScience in this news release, its most recent Form 10-K and in SpectraScience’s other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) that attempt to advise interested parties of the risks and factors that may affect SpectraScience’s business. These forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by the cautions and risk factors filed by SpectraScience in its annual report on Form 10-K and other documents.
SOURCE SpectraScience, Inc.
CONTACT: Jim Hitchin, Chief Executive Officer, SpectraScience, Inc.,
+1-858-847-0200, ext. 201; Todd Pitcher, Investor Relations, Hayden
Communications, +1-858-518-1387
