Laser Diagnostic Technologies Receives Grant for New Optic Nerve Technology.

SAN DIEGO--(BW HealthWire)--Oct. 1, 1998--Laser Diagnostic Technologies has been awarded a Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Institutes of Health to continue to evaluate an exciting new scanning laser technology that measures blood flow in the optic nerve and may help find the cause for glaucoma and other sight-threatening diseases that affect millions of Americans each year.

The $400,000 Phase II grant will allow LDT to initiate clinical trials in humans and review the viability of confocal laser Doppler flowmetry, a technology that measures the movement of blood by detecting changes in the frequency of light that is bounced off the moving blood cells in choroidal and retinal blood vessels. The new instrument uses the same Doppler principle as that employed in radar guns. As a speeding car causes a shift in the frequency of radar waves that can be detected and its velocity, or speed, measured, the new instrument measures shifts in the frequency of light caused by moving blood cells. The study will help determine the applicability of blood flow measurements by investigating the impact of various disease processes, including diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration and glaucoma.

Dr. Charles Riva, D.Sc., of the Scheie Eye Institute in Pennsylvania, one of the lead investigators, invented the laser Doppler flowmetry prototype in Phase I. Hailed by the scientific ophthalmic community, the confocal scanning laser Doppler flowmetry is the only Doppler system ever to be successfully developed which accurately assesses blood flow to the optic nerve. Previous Doppler blood flowmetry systems did not have sufficient reproducibility to conduct studies or accurately assess blood flow.

Andreas Dreher, Ph.D., principal investigator and president of Laser Diagnostic Technologies, explained that the commercial applications of the new technology are vast. "In addition to helping understand glaucoma, a disease that affects over 65 million worldwide and is the leading cause of preventable blindness in the U.S., initial reviews of the technology indicate it may have uses for detecting or better understanding many other diseases. Researchers have long known that the optic nerve may be a diagnostic signal for many conditions," he said.

Over the past year, Laser Diagnostic Technologies has received over $2 million in grants to support its innovative research programs and develop valuable technologies such as an instrument to measure retinal ganglion cell functions using its patented polarimetry technology, a field-portable ophthalmoscope with telemedicine capabilities that allows for diagnosis of ocular trauma and disease, and a multiply-scattered light tomography technology for the early detection of age-related macular degeneration. Laser Diagnostic Technologies plans to show some of these new technologies at its exhibition booth (No. 3518) during the annual meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology in New Orleans, Nov. 8-11.

Laser Diagnostic Technologies Inc., a six-year-old venture-funded medical device company in San Diego, specializes in developing diagnostic products for eye care and currently manufactures the GDx(R) Nerve Fiber Analyzer, the AngioScan(R) ICG Angiography System and the TopSS(R) Topographic Scanning System. LDT participates in the glaucoma and retinal markets along with Allergan (NYSE: AGN), Bausch & Lomb (NYSE: BOL) Miravant (Nasdaq: MRVT) and QLT Photonics (Nasdaq: QLTIF). LDT is located at 9550 Waples Street, Suite 105, San Diego, Calif. 92121 Phone: [phone], Fax: [phone]. Web site: http://www.laserdiagnostic.com.