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Nocimed Announces Recent Patent Issuances in United States & Australia
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. --(Business Wire)--
Nocimed, LLC is pleased to announce that U.S. patent number 8,344,728
for "Systems and Methods Using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR)
Spectroscopy to Evaluate Pain and Degenerative Properties of Tissue" was
issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on
January 1, 2013. Another patent in a related "family" to this issued
U.S. patent was also recently granted in Australia. Other related patent
applications are also currently pending in other major international
territories outside of the United States. These issued patents and
pending patent applications are owned by The Regents of the University
of California (UC) via the original inventors at UC San Francisco, and
are exclusively licensed to Nocimed, LLC. O'Banion & Ritchey, LLP,
including via Cullens Patent & Trade Mark Attorneys in Australia,
represented UC in prosecuting these patents to these successful grants.
Nocimed is also represented by Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear, LLP in its
intellectual property affairs.
Jim Peacock, founding CEO and Chairman of Nocimed, is also a licensed
Patent Attorney registered to practice before the USPTO. According to
Mr. Peacock, "These patent issuances represent significant milestone
achievements for Nocimed. The governing patent agencies in these
significant territories have determined the claimed invention represents
sufficient innovation to grant these patents. This also formally
confirms the proprietary nature of our investigational 'Nociscan Virtual
Discogram' MR spectroscopy diagnostic platform, which incorporates
aspects of this patented technology, in these respective major medical
markets. These protections are critical to our continued investment and
advancement of this platform and technology in our clinical
investigations - which have also been highly encouraging."
About Nociscan™ Virtual Discogram™ and Sigpro™
The Nociscan Virtual Discogram is an investigational spine diagnostic
platform, and is a new application of MR spectroscopy (MRS) to
non-invasively measure disc chemistry as a brief extension of standard
MRI exams. The Nociscan exam is performed by acquiring an MRS spectrum
from a disc nucleus using commercial MR scanners and MRS pulse sequences
already indicated for tissue chemistry assessment, but using a
proprietary procedural protocol being evaluated specifically for disc
spectroscopy. The raw acquired MRS data is then uploaded electronically,
via a secure web interface, to a proprietary "cloud software"-based
Sigpro MRS signal post-processor. Sigpro automatically provides a final
post-processed spectrum for making quantitative measurements at spectral
peaks associated with certain chemicals. These chemical signatures for
the disc may then be assessed as potential chemical biomarkers for
diagnostic correlation to disc pathologies such as degeneration and
pain. Back pain is a leading reported cause of worker's compensation and
disability claims and patient-doctor visits for middle-aged adults, and
spine also represents the largest category of all MR uses. However,
standard MRI does not reliably reveal which discs are causing the pain
in chronic, severe discogenic low back pain patients. Accordingly, an
invasive, painful, risky, subjective, and costly needle-based
"provocative discography" procedure is often required, following
standard lumbar MRI, for this purpose.
The investigational non-invasive Nociscan Virtual Discogram was awarded
"#1 Overall Best New Technology (News - Alert) in Spine Care for 2011" by Orthopedics
This Week at the North American Spine Society 2011 annual meeting. A
scientific abstract featuring clinical data from on-going Nociscan
investigations was also awarded a "Best Paper" oral podium presentation
by the International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery
(ISASS), to be delivered at the ISASS 2013 annual conference being held
April 3-5, 2013 in Vancouver, Canada.
About Nocimed™, LLC
Nocimed, LLC's mission is to provide disruptive new medical diagnostic
platform technologies to address significant areas of unmet need in
substantial clinical and research markets. The Company's primary
emphasis is to deliver this via web or "cloud"-based
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS (News - Alert)) solutions, principally for diagnostic
imaging post-processing. The Company is initially developing these
solutions for musculoskeletal and pain indications - with initial focus
on disc chemistry monitoring and discogenic low back pain diagnosis.
Nocimed was founded in 2008 as a Delaware Limited Liability Company,
with its principal place of business in Redwood City, CA (News - Alert), and is
privately funded by qualified accredited investors. Further information
may be found at www.nocimed.com.
Any inquiries may be directed by phone to (650) 241-1727, or by email to cwakeman@nocimed.com.
Nociscan Virtual Discogram, Sigpro, and other products and technologies
embody exclusive proprietary rights of Nocimed, LLC, including under
certain copyrights and granted patents and pending patent applications
in the United States and other territories. Nocimed™, Nociscan™, Virtual
Discogram™, Nocigram™, Sigpro™, and Autovox™ are proprietary trademarks
of Nocimed, LLC. All rights reserved.
CAUTION: Investigational device. Limited by Federal Law to
investigational use only.
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