Spectral Molecular Imaging completes development of SkinSpect for melanoma detection

Aug 27 2010

Cascade Technologies, Inc. (OTCBB: CSDT) announced today that its wholly-owned subsidiary Spectral Molecular Imaging, Inc. (SMI) will complete development of its new product SkinSpect™, aimed at early detection of melanoma by hyperspectral imaging, in mid-September 2010, significantly ahead of schedule. The device incorporates new advances in component technologies (optics, cameras, displays, embedded computers and software), as well as experience derived from previous prototypes developed under federal funding and tested in the clinic. The spectral range covered is also extended, now ranging from 385 nm to 920 nm.

“Working again with the impressive, dedicated medical group at the UPMC Melanoma Center will feel like a homecoming”

"The resulting system when completed," noted Dr. Daniel Farkas, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, "will be extremely versatile in acquiring high-resolution image data non-invasively from suspicious moles on the skin and under it, and will then be tested on patients, starting in early October 2010, at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Melanoma Center, one of the largest and most prestigious in the country." Part of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Center, it serves as an international referral center for patients with melanoma and Dysplastic Nevus Syndrome. The UPMC Melanoma Center was the site of past fruitful collaborations between its clinicians and optical imaging groups led by Dr. Daniel L. Farkas.

"Working again with the impressive, dedicated medical group at the UPMC Melanoma Center will feel like a homecoming," said Dr. Farkas, "with all members of the team knowing the task at hand to be vital and urgent, requiring our very best efforts to get our products responsibly launched according to regulatory standards. SkinSpect™ (which we tentatively and previously named MelaSpect) incorporates our multi-year R&D experience, and is technologically advanced; using it on patients in Pittsburgh will allow testing and fine-tuning it, for best outcomes."

"We have worked very diligently to harness the great potential of hyperspectral imaging in detecting and treating disease," added Dr. Farkas, "but nothing seems more exciting than the prospect of deploying this technology, basically derived from satellite spying, for finding early melanoma and thus materially increasing likelihoods of saving lives and reducing treatment costs."