NovaVision Names Dr. Vilayanur S. Ramachandran to Scientific and Medical Advisory Board.

BOCA RATON, Fla. -- World-Renowned Neuroscientist Joins Team of Distinguished Scientists and Practitioners Guiding Development of Vision Restoration Therapy for Stroke and Brain Trauma Patients

NovaVision, Inc. announced today the addition of Vilayanur S. Ramachandran, M.D., Ph.D., Director of the Center for Brain and Cognition, and Professor, Psychology and Neurosciences Program, University of California at San Diego to the Scientific and Medical Advisory Board. Dr. Ramachandran will lend guidance to the company's continuing research and development activities and will provide clinical counsel related to NovaVision VRT(TM) Vision Restoration Therapy (VRT), cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in April 2003.

In addition to his role as the Director of the Center for Brain and Cognition, Dr. Ramachandran is also professor with the Psychology Department and the Neurosciences Program at the University of California, San Diego as well as an Adjunct Professor of Biology at the Salk Institute. Dr. Ramachandran is trained as a Physician and obtained an M.D. from Stanley Medical College and subsequently a Ph.D. from Trinity College at the University of Cambridge, where he was elected a senior Rouse Ball Scholar. Named by Newsweek as one of the one hundred most important people to watch in the next century, he has received numerous awards, including the Ariens-Kappers Medal from the Netherlands, a Gold Medal from the Australian National University and a fellowship from All Souls College, Oxford. Dr. Ramachandran's early research was on visual perception but he is best known for his extensive research in cognitive neuroscience and behavioral neurology - the study of cognitive and perceptual deficits in human neurological patients, neural plasticity and "phantom limbs," stroke rehabilitation, human visual perception/cognition, and visual psychophysics. In addition, Dr. Ramachandran is Editor-in-Chief of the Encyclopedia of Human Behaviour and author of the critically acclaimed book Phantoms in the Brain, which has been translated into eight languages.

"VRT holds great promise for countless patients who suffer from major visual field deficits once considered untreatable," said Vilayanur S. Ramachandran, M.D., Ph.D. "VRT is currently the most promising clinical application of rehabilitation for vision loss. I look forward to collaborating with this distinguished board to explore, expand and improve the benefits of VRT."

Approximately 1.5 million stroke and traumatic brain injury (TBI) victims in the United States suffer from major visual field deficits, and that number grows by more than 90,000 new patients each year. To date, more than 700 patients have been treated with VRT and clinical results are positive. Data from a recent retrospective study show more than 65 percent of patients who underwent VRT for the initial six-month treatment period showed measurable improvements in their vision. NovaVision's Scientific and Medical Advisory Board includes many of the world's preeminent experts in the field of neurology, neuro-ophthalmology, neuroscience and neurobiology - including leaders of research-based academic medical institutions, a Nobel Laureate and pioneering thinkers in neuroplasticity. The chairman of NovaVision's Scientific and Medical Advisory Board is company founder Bernhard Sabel, Ph.D., Chair of Neuropsychology, Otto-von-Guericke University of Magdeburg in Magdeburg, Germany, who originally developed Vision Restoration Therapy.

"The addition of Dr. Ramachandran to NovaVision's Scientific and Medical Advisory Board is a tremendous asset," said NovaVision President and CEO Navroze S. Mehta. "In 2004, VRT gained tremendous traction in the United States through a growing network of clinics offering the therapy. Dr. Ramachandran's expertise and insight will help continue this momentum in 2005 and beyond."

About NovaVision, Inc.

NovaVision VRT(TM) Vision Restoration Therapy (VRT) is based on groundbreaking research in neuroplasticity. VRT is an FDA-cleared, patented, non-invasive medical device that may restore vision in stroke and traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients with visual deficits. While speech, physical and occupational therapies are the long-standing, mainstream treatment regimens for stroke and TBI patients, VRT is the first FDA-cleared clinical application of rehabilitation for vision loss. NovaVision, Inc. is headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida with European offices that include clinics and research and development in Magdeburg and Berlin, Germany. VRT is based on 15 years of research with clinical studies published in leading journals including Nature Medicine, Neurology, and the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. Data from a recent retrospective study identified that more than 65 percent of patients who underwent VRT for an initial six-month treatment period showed measurable improvements in their vision. VRT is currently offered at: Albert Einstein Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA; Bascom Palmer Eye Institute at University of Miami, Miami, FL; Columbia University Medical Center's Neurological Institute of NY, New York, NY; Department of Neurology, University of Miami, Miami, FL; Emory Healthcare Eye Center, Atlanta, GA; Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute, Baltimore, MD; Kresge Eye Institute at Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI; Morton Plant North Bay Hospital, Clearwater, FL; Richard H. Legge, M.D., Omaha, NE; and Washington County Hospital Total Rehab Care, Hagerstown, MD. For more information about NovaVision VRT please visit www.novavisiontherapy.com or call 888-205-0800.