July 9th, 2003 — TissueInformatics.Inc — "The Tissue Information Company®".
Pittsburgh — TissueInformatics.Inc (www.TissueInformatics.com) announced today that the U.S. Patent Office has granted the company the patent for the construction of Tissue Databases of Normality.
As issued, TissueInformatics' U.S. patent (#6,581,011) relates to a computer-implemented invention for the development and use of a tissue information database for profiling, engineering, manufacturing and classifying a broad range of normal tissues. The company believes this is the first patent to provide for the construction of an objective, numerical profile of a defined set of normal tissue specimens.
In this invention, a representative sample of normal tissue specimens is obtained from a selected subset of a subject population having common characteristics. The tissues are subsequently profiled by image or assay analysis to obtain selected structural, mechanical and/or cell function information about the tissue and the quantitated data is subsequently stored in a comprehensive database for review.
As discussed in the patent, researchers may use the tissue database information for general research purposes or to classify tissue specimens. In particular, a researcher can measure structural, mechanical and/or cell function indicators associated with their tissue specimens and then compare this information to the corresponding parameters for normal tissue in the database. This enables a researcher to classify the tissue specimens as either normal or abnormal and precisely measure the degree to which the selected indicators deviate from the defined normal state.
"The availability of structural information at the tissue level as well as mechanical and cell function information on tissue enables the development of complex three dimensional blueprints of tissue. The ability to automatically classify tissue as normal or abnormal as compared to a comprehensive database of normality has a direct impact on many areas of drug discovery including, for example, automation of the pathology laboratory and quality assurance of engineered skin." Said Peter Johnson, MD. Chairman and CEO of TissueInformatics and prior Reconstructive Surgeon.
As issued, this patent covers 87 claims for the construction and use of an online tissue database containing selected indices for normal and abnormal human and animal tissues ranging from skin, liver, kidney, muscle and intestine, as well as for tissues derived from plants, food or tissue engineered sources. The Company has filed further claims to expand the scope of the patent, and it anticipates receiving a second database patent along similar lines for developing databases of tissue information from tissues provided by a subscriber. As provided in the patent, the database would be available to researchers on-line via the Internet or corporate Intranet.
Funded by notable investors such as the Aurora Funds, Birchmere Ventures, the Future Fund, Informax, Manulife Financial, Motorola, Smithfield Trust and Techno Venture Management (TVM), TissueInformatics accelerates the drug discovery process by providing a broad range of tissue analysis software, tissue analysis services, and drug target discovery solutions to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and CRO industries.
For further information, please visit www.TissueInformatics.com or contact Todd A. Joron, Senior Vice President @ +1-412-327-4354.
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