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Karen Whelan, Public Relations & Practice Marketing Specialist
508-787-1461
kwhelan@optos.com
Optos Partner Offers optomap® Retinal Exam to Help Eliminate Visual Health Disparities
17.05.2007
MARLBOROUGH, MA, May 17, 2007 – Dr. Kristen Brown and her colleagues at Dimock Community Health Center, Roxbury, MA perform an optomap® Retinal Exam on every patient, an examination that allows eye practitioners to look at the retina, the back of the eye where eye and non eye-related disease often first appears.
The optomap® Retinal Exam helps detect early signs of disease. It is produced by the Panoramic200 Scanning Laser Ophthalmoscope (P200) device, which generates an ultrawide-field view of the retina in less than a quarter of a second. Optos, a leading medical technology company for the design, development, manufacturing and marketing of retinal imaging devices, provides eye care professionals, like the doctors at Dimock, with clinically useful information to help diagnose eye and non-eye related conditions such as diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, hypertension, and certain cancers.
“The optomap® Retinal Exam has been a great resource for educating our interns as well as our patients about their eye health, particularly our diabetic patients who have never seen what the inside of their eyes look like,” stated Dr. Brown, Dimock Community Health Center. “It has helped us be more efficient and problem specific in our teaching and in our patient care.”
Dimock Community Health Center serves Boston’s inner city neighborhoods and provides vital services, including eye health assessments, to over 40,000 families each year. Dr. Brown’s eye clinic is an affiliate of the New England College of Optometry Eye network, which plays a major role in educating the next generation of optometric clinical providers including training on the optomap® Retinal Exam. This quick, painless procedure is safe and comfortable for patients of all ages, from infants to seniors.
Note to Editors
Optos plc is a leading and rapidly growing medical technology company for the design, development, manufacturing and marketing of devices that image the retina, the light-sensitive area at the back of the eye. Optos' platform technology is the Panoramic200 Scanning Laser Ophthalmoscope device - known as the P200. In a quarter of a second the P200 device produces a high resolution image of up to 200 degrees or approximately 82 percent of the retina in a single capture. The image - branded the optomap® Retinal Exam - provides eye care practitioners with clinically useful information that facilitates the early detection of disorders and diseases evidenced in the retina, such as glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration. Retinal imaging can also indicate evidence of non-eye or systemic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and certain cancers. The Company has gained regulatory clearance (CE and FDA 510(k)) to market a second device - P200MA. Optos’ technology provides an unequalled combination of wide-field retinal imaging, speed and convenience for both practitioner and patient and can help save sight and save lives.
Optos estimates that its P200 device is targeting a recurring US$2 billion market opportunity. As at 30 September 2006 Optos had 232 employees serving more than 2,500 customers in the Company’s existing markets, currently the USA, Canada, UK and Germany. Optos plc is headquartered in Dunfermline, Scotland and was admitted to the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange on 15 February 2006 trading under the symbol OPTS.
Optos is incorporated in Scotland under the Companies Act 1985 with registered number SC139953. The Company maintains its Registered Office at Queensferry House, Carnegie Business Campus, Dunfermline, Scotland KY11 8GR United Kingdom.