Epilepsy Pipeline 2010 San Francisco

Visualase Inc. Selected to Present at Epilepsy Conference Highlighting New and Promising Epilepsy Therapies. Epilepsy Pipeline Update 2010 to Take Place February 25-26 in San Francisco.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Houston, TX  February 23, 2010 — Visualase Inc. announced today that Bill Hoffman will present an overview of Visualase’s MR Guided Focal Therapy Technology at the Epilepsy Pipeline Update 2010 conference, an in-depth, 2-day forum to be held February 25-26, 2010, at the Hyatt Embarcadero Hotel in San Francisco. The conference will feature a line up of leading innovators, clinical investigators and industry leaders who will offer insights into the discovery and development of pioneering drugs, biologics and devices for epilepsy with the goal of accelerating patient access to new treatments.  Visualase Inc. was selected to present by the Scientific and Business of Advisory Boards of the Epilepsy Therapy Project, a non-profit organization that supports the commercialization of new epilepsy therapies.

The conference will bring together emerging CNS companies and scientific entrepreneurs to present their strategies, product candidates and development programs to potential venture capital, private equity, pharma and biotech investors and partners.  Presenters will cover the most innovative therapies in development today for epilepsy.

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Visualase, Inc. is focused in product development, clinical evaluations, manufacturing, and marketing of advanced image-guided laser technologies for thermal focal ablation markets.

The unprecedented level of precision and control afforded by the Visualase technology has made possible ablation of tissue in highly sensitive areas such as brain and prostate. Doctors are currently using the system for ablation of brain, prostate, liver, bone, and other solid tumors. For more information about the Visualase Technology and Visualase Inc., visit http://www.visualaseinc.com.

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The laser is compatible with the Visualase Thermal Therapy System, which incorporates advanced MRI-thermal image guidance and novel cooled laser applicator technology for real-time monitoring and control of the ablation process.  The new PhoTex30 Diode Laser and Visualase cooled laser applicators allow creation of large ablation zones (up to 3cm in diameter) from a single probe in approximately 2 minutes.  Multiple probes can be used simultaneously to cover larger areas of tissue in the same short exposure time.  .

Visualase uses light energy to destroy unwanted tissue through a process called Laser-induced interstitial thermotherapy (LITT). In this treatment, laser fibers are directed to targeted areas in the body, often tumor tissue. Laser light is delivered through the probe which raises the temperature to lethal levels in the targeted tissue.  As more physicians become trained on the Visualase technology, lasers may have an increased impact on many types of tumor therapy.  Doctors are currently using the system for ablation of brain, prostate, liver, bone, and other solid tumors.

PhoTex30 Diode Laser System

For more information about the PhoTex30 Diode Laser Series and Visualase Inc., visit http://www.visualaseinc.com.
For news and events about Visualase Inc., visit http://www.visualaseinc.com/news/

Contact

Andres Schulz
Media and Marketing

Visualase Inc.
8058 El Rio Street
Houston, Texas 77054

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Watching Tumors Die

Thursday, April 2, 2009
By Sarah Petrie

Above, from left: Kamran Ahrar, M.D., and R. Jason Stafford, Ph.D., discuss an upcoming spinal surgery that will use the Visualase technology. They’ll be able to watch the tumor fully die in near real time during the procedure. Depending on where the tumor is located, the patient may or may not be awake during the procedure.

History books show that surgeons began removing cancerous tumors as early as the second century. Zoom ahead to 2009, take away the scalpels, scars and side effects that typically accompany surgery, and trade them for a tiny laser beam that zaps cancer dead on the spot. It sounds like science fiction, but our researchers and clinicians are among the first in the nation to investigate a new procedure that does just this … and more.

“It’s called laser-induced thermal therapy, and the basic theory is that the laser heats the tumor to a certain temperature to kill it,” explains Jeffrey Weinberg, M.D., associate professor in Neurosurgery, who’s conducting a clinical trial to test the effectiveness of this procedure on patients with metastatic brain tumors.
How hot is too hot for a cancerous tumor? Sixty degrees Celsius, in most cases.

“The clinical trial targets patients with otherwise inoperable tumors or those for whom other treatments failed,” Weinberg says. “This is possible because tissues surrounding the tumor aren’t harmed or affected with this procedure — an advantage over other types of brain surgeries for cancer, including radiosurgery.”

Delivering laser energy using a device only millimeters in diameter, the procedure leaves a scar no bigger than your thumb. Plus, there should be no side effects for this less-invasive surgery, which takes only a few hours from start to finish. “The laser portion should only take a few minutes, and patients will experience no swelling and little pain,” Weinberg adds.

Other forms of what also is known as ablation therapy already are in practice, killing tumors using heat, cold or electricity. So what makes this particular procedure so revolutionary? The physician actually watches the tumor die in real time, according to Kamran Ahrar, M.D., associate professor in Interventional Radiology, who has performed the procedure on a few patients with bone and spinal tumors as part of a similar clinical trial.

Weinberg agrees this is the biggest advantage of this method over other forms of treatment. “Patients don’t have to wait weeks or months for tests to confirm if the entire tumor is gone, as is the case with most surgeries. Instead, using this technology, we can convert magnetic resonance imaging into a color picture that indicates the temperature of the tissue,” he says. “This allows us to know exactly when the tumor is hot enough to fully die.”

How does it work?

Houston-based company Visualase Inc., which sells the technology, approached M. D. Anderson in 2000 for help with developing the tool. “For this procedure to be successful, the doctors must know the precise location and distribution of temperature in the tumor and that’s where the physicists come in the picture,” explains R. Jason Stafford, Ph.D., assistant professor in Imaging Physics, and lead consultant on the Visualase technology development for M. D. Anderson.

In other words, a stereotactic navigation system, “like a GPS for your brain” as Weinberg puts it, pinpoints the exact location and size of the tumor. After the surgeon drills a hole and sends the specially designed fiber directly to the tumor, the laser is activated, thus heating the tumor. Doing it in the MRI allows clinicians to monitor temperatures within the tissue. “Temperature as well as predicted regions of complete treatment are color-coded on a screen, giving us the ability to adjust or retreat a certain area, as needed,” Stafford adds.

And at M. D. Anderson, this entire procedure can be performed in one room, unlike at other institutions that also are researching the procedure. We have a dedicated intra-operative MRI suite, which is safer for patients than moving them to different locations to complete the procedure.

Houston, Texas March 1st, 2006 The U.S. FDA granted 510(k) clearance (K053087) for the Visualase Cooled Laser Applicator System. The Visualase Cooled Laser Applicator System, manufactured by BioTex, Inc. and to be distributed by Visualase, Inc. received clearance for marketing with broad use in a number of medical specialties. “This family of products consists of a number of novel advancements in laser applicator systems,” stated Dr. Ashok Gowda, President and CEO of Visualase. “The laser diffusing fiber and cooling catheter system can be used together to allow use of higher laser powers and faster ablation times, while minimizing risk of applicator damage and tissue carbonization,” he added.