IRVINGTON, N.Y., Aug. 26, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MELA Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq:MELA), developer of the MelaFind® system, a non-invasive optical diagnostic tool that assists dermatologists in the diagnosis of melanoma at its most curable and cost-effective stage and that has received both FDA Pre-Market Approval (PMA) for the U.S. and CE Marking certification for the European Union, today announced it has executed a research agreement with Columbia University in which MELA and Columbia will collaborate to explore potential next generation capabilities and features of the MelaFind system and other enhancements to the system's range and ease of use.
The Columbia team, led by Principal Investigator Andreas H. Hielscher, Ph.D., will utilize certain proprietary Columbia technology within its scope of work. The company will have exclusive rights to license any intellectual property that may result from the research collaboration.
"This is a rare opportunity to engage some of the best minds in the world to study the MelaFind system and potentially develop the next generation of imager that will provide a more powerful solution in support of early detection and life-saving treatment for melanoma," said Rose Crane, MELA Sciences President and CEO. "We are excited about the prospect of working with Dr. Hielscher and his team."
About the Columbia Research Team
Dr. Andreas H. Hielscher is a Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Radiology at Columbia University. He focuses on optical medical instrumentation and image reconstruction algorithms and has conducted clinical and preclinical imaging of joint diseases, cancer, cerebral hemodynamics and vascular reactivity. Dr. Hielscher and his team at the Biophotonics and Optical Radiology Laboratory at Columbia possess considerable experience in modeling of light propagation in tissue and designing optical medical instrumentation.
About MelaFind www.melafind.com
MelaFind is the first and only medical device with FDA Pre-Market Approval (PMA) for the U.S. and CE Marking certification for the European Union designed to assist dermatologists in the evaluation and diagnosis of melanoma at its most curable and cost-effective stage. The MelaFind® system utilizes innovative software driven technology and state-of-the-art 3-D optical imaging to non-invasively extract data 2.5 mm below the skin surface from patient's pigmented ambiguous moles and objectively analyzes them with proprietary algorithms. MelaFind provides important additional perspective to physicians via 3-D spectral images and 100% objective data analysis to help them better understand the structural disorganization of a patient's pigmented ambiguous moles (before cutting the skin) during the evaluation and diagnosis process for melanoma.
About MELA Sciences, Inc. www.melasciences.com
MELA Sciences is a medical technology company dedicated to designing and developing innovative software-driven technology for the clinical early detection and prevention of skin cancer. MELA Sciences conducted the largest, positive prospective study ever done on the melanoma disease, and is the first and only medical technology company to receive both FDA Pre-Market Approval (PMA) for the U.S. and CE Marking certification for the European Union for a device of this nature.
Safe Harbor
This press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include but are not limited to our plans, objectives, expectations and intentions and may contain words such as "seeks," "look forward," and "there seems" that suggest future events or trends. These statements are based on our current expectations and are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and changes in circumstances. Actual results may differ materially from our expectations due to financial, economic, business, competitive, market, regulatory and political factors or conditions affecting the company and the medical device industry in general, as well as more specific risks and uncertainties set forth in the company's SEC reports on Forms 10-Q and 10-K. Given such uncertainties, any or all of these forward-looking statements may prove to be incorrect or unreliable. MELA Sciences assumes no duty to update its forward-looking statements and urges investors to carefully review its SEC disclosures available at www.sec.gov and www.melasciences.com.