what do we have here?
Wednesday January 31, 8:15 am Eastern Time
Press Release
EchoCath Announces Portable Blood-velocity Measuring
System
PRINCETON, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 31, 2001--EchoCath, Inc.
(NASD-OTC-BB-ECHTA)--The President of EchoCath, Inc., Frank DeBernardis, announced today at
the Third Annual Gargiulo Health Care Conference in New York plans to market a portable version of
the Company's EchoFlow(TM) system to measure blood-velocity.
The EchoFlow device has been the subject of clinical evaluations in 12 leading medical centers in the
U.S., with major interest for use in dialysis-access-graft surveillance and for intra-operative vessel
assessment.
¶ Mr. DeBernardis said, "Our clinical investigators asked for a
portable version of the operating-room system, one they could carry with them. Our engineers
responded by shrinking the system from 70 pounds to two pounds, putting the key functions of the
research-oriented system in a hand-held box.`` He added he expected the new system to be available
for shipment in the spring of this year.
¶ Mr. DeBernardis also reported on the Company's participation in
the Third International Conference on Dialysis, January 18th and 19th in Miami, Florida, where key
researchers in the dialysis field met to discuss developments. ``The EchoFlow instrument was the
subject of the Dialysis Times newsletter article on Emerging Technology which was distributed at the
meeting as well as mailed to 8,000 nephrologists world-wide. ''Based on the early results of using the
EchoFlow instrument for dialysis access graft surveillance at Mt. Sinai Hospital and the Renal
Research Institute in New York, we are meeting with prospective clinical investigators to enroll them in
a multi-center clinical protocol to demonstrate the utility of the technology,`` Frank DeBernardis stated.
He added, ''We intend to show that the EchoFlow system is a cost-effective, easy-to-use technology
that enables dialysis centers to monitor the performance of access grafts to determine the need for
early intervention to maintain graft patency.`` Dialysis access graft related problems are estimated to
cost the health-care delivery system over $1 billion per year.
Mr. DeBernardis also reported on the response to the Company's exhibition of the EchoFlow system at
the 25th Annual Meeting of The Southern Association for Vascular Surgery on January 24th - 27th in
Rio Grande, Puerto Rico. Vascular surgeons at this meeting expressed interest in developing a protocol
that would be used in a multi-center trial focused on demonstrating the benefits of the EchoFlow
technology to provide intra-operative assessment of vessel by-pass procedures. Frank DeBernardis
stated, ``Intra-operative use of the EchoFlow System has been the interest of many of our clinical sites
to determine a cost-effective means of assessing vessel conditions during by-pass surgery. The
vascular surgeon can simply touch the vessel with the tip of the EchoFlow probe to accurately measure
blood velocity, an indication of vessel health. Measurements can be taken before and after procedures
to determine the section to be by-passed, and to assess the effectiveness of the procedure. The
Company is working with leading surgeons to develop a protocol that will be used in a multi-center
demonstration of the system's benefits in these procedures. Currently surgeons use pen Doppler probes
and or duplex ultrasound systems for this purpose. The EchoFlow provides a numerical measurement of
blood flow velocity, which is not available from continuous wave pen Doppler probes and does not
require the use of expensive duplex ultrasound systems that require a specially trained technologist to
operate.''
¶ Mr. DeBernardis summarized, "We are building a strong clinical
foundation for applications for our EchoFlow Technology. Our focus for direct selling is the vascular
surgeon for intra-operative vascular applications. We are seeking corporate partners for intra-operative
cardiac, dialysis, critical care and implantable market arenas.``
Mr. DeBernardis also announced that the Company has been granted a fifth patent on its
diffraction-grating technology used in EchoFlow systems. ``This patent, 6,176,829, Multi-Beam
Diffraction Grating Imager Apparatus and Method, shows how to use our technology to produce
real-time, three-dimensional imaging; we will continue to explore this and other technological expansions
of our technology.''
Certain statements in this Press Release constitute ``forward-looking statements'' within the meaning of
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known
and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual results or legal
outcomes to be materially different from any future results expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from such statements as a result of a
variety of factors including unanticipated delays in bringing products to market, market conditions, and
competitive responses as well as other factors referred to by EchoCath in its Annual Report on Form
10K for the year ended August 31, 2000 and the interim quarterly reports on Form 10Q.
Contact:
EchoCath, Inc.
Frank DeBernardis, 609/987-8400 |
