Nov 13 2006
SpectraScience has announced that it has filed for a new patent with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
The application is titled "System and Method for Non-Endoscopic Optical Biopsy Detection of Diseased Tissue." The device is a disposable catheter designed to be used in body cavities to detect normal or cancerous tissue. It is used in conjunction with the Company's WavSTAT(TM) Optical Biopsy System.
Jim Hitchin the Company's CEO said, "our multi-patented and proprietary WavSTAT(TM) Optical Biopsy System is used by physicians to diagnose tissue and determine if it is normal, pre-cancerous, or cancerous within one second. The WavStat(TM) System is currently approved by the FDA for use in detecting cancer in the colon. A new application for detecting pre-cancers in the throat, sometimes called Barrett's esophagus, is being tested in a clinical trial. Cancer of the esophagus is more than 90% fatal and may develop as a result of chronic heartburn or GERD. Esophageal cancer is growing five times faster than all other cancers."