CAS Medical Systems (CASMED) has reported that the Japanese Patent Office has granted a new patent for the company's Laser-Sight technology used in the Fore-Sight Oximeter.
CASMED said that the newly granted patent (JP 4,465,271), entitled ‘Method for spectrophotometric blood oxygenation monitoring,’ includes 28 claims broadly covering methods for non-invasively determining biological tissue oxygenation in general.
For non-invasive methods utilizing near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) techniques in particular, include: a method for non-invasively determining the absolute oxygen saturation value within biological tissue; a method that provides calibration means to account for energy losses due to scattering as well as other background absorption from biological compounds; a method that can non-invasively determine oxygen saturation within tissue at certain depth that limits the influence from the superficial tissues.
Andrew Kersey, president and chief executive officer of CASMED, said: “We are very pleased with the grant of this first FORE-SIGHT related patent in Japan, which further extends CASMED’s leadership on intellectual property for absolute oximetry measurements. Japan is known for having a rigorous approval process for patents, and this will offer us protection on our invention and intellectual property in this country.
“The patent reflects many years of research and development focused on bringing to market a non-invasive, commercially viable technology that allows clinicians to monitor absolute levels of oxygen saturation in the brain and other body tissues. Our goal is to continue to pursue the issuance of patents to enable us to maximize the value of the innovative technology used in this compelling device.”