SAN DIEGO, Aug. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SpectraScience, Inc. , a San Diego-based medical devices company, today announced that it has been awarded a patent for correcting image misalignment between at least two images in a sequence of images due at least in part to tissue sample movement. The patent, U.S. Patent No. 7,406,215, is titled “Methods and systems for correcting image misalignment.”
Jim Hitchin, SpectraScience’s CEO, commented, “This is another key patent in our broad patent portfolio that furthers our commitment at SpectraScience to develop better, more reliable cancer screening technologies.
The patent is important to the Company’s optical biopsy technology because, in screening for some forms of cancer, the optical response of the tissue is captured in a sequence of images that are characterized by analyzing the time-dependent response of the tissue as recorded in the sequence. During this type of screening, the tissue may move while images are being taken, resulting in a spatial shift within the image frame field. Being able to correct for this shift increases the effectiveness of the optical biopsy procedure. Tissue movement can be caused by the natural movement of the patient during the procedure, which can occur despite a patient’s attempts to remain completely still. This patent provides for an accurate analysis of the sequence of images which would otherwise be misaligned due to movement of the tissue.
Hitchin added, Accurate imaging is critical to earlier and more effective identification of abnormal, pre-cancerous and/or cancerous tissue, and this invention provides methods of determining a correction for a misalignment in the imaging process that will make our screening devices more powerful to the physician and more important to the patient.”
SpectraScience has filed for 60 patents worldwide on its WavSTAT(R) Optical Biopsy System and LUMA(R) Cervical Imaging System that are used to diagnose tissue to quickly determine if it is normal, pre-cancerous, or cancerous. The WavSTAT and LUMA Systems are currently approved by the FDA for detecting pre-cancer and cancer in the colon and cervix, and an evaluation for detection of pre-cancers in the throat (“Barrett’s esophagus”) is being tested.
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.
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 first commercially available product that incorporates this innovative technology for clinical use. The Company’s LUMA 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.
CONTACT: Jim Hitchin, Chief Executive Officer of SpectraScience, Inc.,
+1-858-847-0200, ext. 201; or Investor Relations, Todd Pitcher of Hayden
Communications, +1-858-518-1387, for SpectraScience, Inc.
