1 MEDICAL/SURGICAL LASER UPDATE - American Society for ...

educing hospital stays, replacing the need for surgical intervention, [or] reducing the
time needed for a diagnostic determination ..."
6/2 With the opening of an Associate Center in Houston, BriteSmile now has six tooth
whitening centers up and running. The other operating centers are located in Beverly
Hills, Irvine, Pasadena, and Walnut Creek, CA, with other Associate Centers in Denver,
CO, Louisville, KY and Toronto, Ontario.
6/3 PLC Systems Inc. announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) had
granted to its U.S. subsidiary, PLC Medical Systems, Inc., U.S. Patent 5,893,848,
covering various systems for monitoring the depth of channels created in percutaneous
myocardial revascularization, known as "PTMR" or "PMR." In PMR, a catheter is
inserted into a patient's heart and used to create a number of tiny channels in the heart
wall from the inside of the heart. This treatment may potentially relieve chest pain in
patients suffering from severe coronary artery disease. In PMR, the channels must be
deep enough to relieve a patient's severe chest pain, but not so deep to cause bleeding or
damage to the heart or surrounding tissue. Monitoring the depth of channels created
during PMR procedures is therefore believed to be a critical step if PMR is to be
performed safely and effectively. PLC's new patent covers a number of ways of
monitoring the depth of channels created during PMR procedures including a wide
variety of mechanical, electrical and ultrasonic detection methods.
"We are very pleased to add this important new patent to our growing patent portfolio,"
said William Dow, president and CEO of PLC Systems. As the pioneer of
transmyocardial revascularization, PLC has continued to apply its extensive technical
expertise to developing innovations to perform TMR and PMR procedures more safely,
more effectively and less invasively. We believe this addition to our valuable patent
portfolio positions the company well in the emerging PMR marketplace." (The only
problem is, PLC's laser system is not capable of PMR, since the high-powered CO 2 laser
energy cannot be sent down a catheter!)
6/3 I received a very good research report on Laser Photonics, prepared by Eric Petersen of
Pennsylvania Merchant Group. The report details the progress made by Laser Photonics,
and its laser subsidiary, Acculase, in developing excimer laser technology for both the
treatment of psoriasis (at the Wellman Labs of Photomedicine) and for TMR, in
conjunction with Baxter Healthcare. The company has also entered into a business
relationship with Healthworld Corporation, a leading marketing and communications
company, to assist it in rolling out the psoriasis product, once FDA marketing clearance
is obtained, which could occur by years end. The report notes that Photonics purchased
for Baxter's account, a key IBM UV laser interaction with tissue patent (the "Blum"
patent), from LaserSight, for use in vascular and cardiovascular applications. Photonics
is the sole sub-licensee to this patent.
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