Digital Healthcare announces new Diagnostic Imaging System for Diabetic Retinopathy

Released on = March 6, 2006, 11:53 am

Press Release Author = Digital Healthcare, Inc.

Industry = Healthcare

Press Release Summary = Digital Healthcare, the Baltimore-based clinical imaging
company, announced today the introduction of their new integrated management
platform, OptoMize®, for Diabetic retinopathy.

Press Release Body = Baltimore, MD - March 6. Digital Healthcare, the
Baltimore-based clinical imaging company, announced today the introduction of their
new integrated management platform, OptoMize®, for Diabetic retinopathy. Based on
their award winning iP® .NET based technology, OptoMize® is a "total" approach to
community based diagnostic retinal imaging.

Using standard high resolution digital fundus cameras with either dilated or non
dilated patients the OptoMize® system links primary care locations to approved
digital reading centers using HL& V3 encrypted messaging. The system includes
software to
 control most makes and model of fundus cameras,
 check the images and collect clinical data,
 transmit the images and data, and
 check that the data has been received at the reading center.
The Reading Center software will serve the images and data to graders who are either
local or working from remote locations. Reports and referral information can be
routed directed to clinicians or back to primary care. The system administration
module includes options for patient management, including call and recall, digital
referral to ophthalmologists, clinic management and detailed statistical and outcome
management.

There are more than 20 million Americans at risk of blindness through diabetes. Once
retinopathy is detected it can be treated with laser surgery. However, if it is
detected too late or allowed to progress it can and does result in irreversible
blindness.

"The introduction of the OptoMize iP® system marks an important step forward in the
development of treatment for patients with Diabetes." said Digital Healthcare's CEO
Gerry Skews. He added "The new software that can be run either as a turnkey system
by a dedicated clinic or as a "digital hosted service" makes it possible for
patients who are at risk of blindness to get an eye examination almost anywhere in
the country and receive the highest possible standard of care because the images are
read by experts who can report on clinical conditions within hours of the patient
receiving a simple digital photograph."

Professor Lawrence Merin at Vanderbilt University, who has been working with Digital
Healthcare for the last five years, commented that "Diabetes is the leading cause of
preventable blindness in the working age population, but historical methods of
screening have not done a good job of prevention - less than half of all diabetic
patients receive annual eye examination. The total economic cost of the disease is
estimated to be in excess of $100 billion per year, but the devastating impact is
felt at the personal level." He added "Technology such as that developed by Digital
Healthcare will undoubtedly play a significant role in addressing this problem. The
scale and scope of diabetic retinopathy is such that it cannot be achieved only in
the Ophthalmology clinic. The preliminary retinal scan will have to be done in
general healthcare clinics in the community, with the results being sent to
specialists by the primary care physician."

The innovative technology has been in development for two years and has been tested
by the US Department of Veterans Affairs, US Department of Defense, and Clinical
departments within pioneering universities including Vanderbilt and Wake Forest.
Originally developed by Digital Healthcare, OptoMize® has been in use in Europe
where hundreds of thousands of patients are receiving digital fundus photography
each year. Particularly in the UK where the government has already allocated around
$50 million to this project, the primary goal is to achieve photography and remote
diagnosis of 80% of the 1.4 million people with diabetes by the end of 2006.

About Digital Healthcare, Inc:
Based in Baltimore Maryland with a Midwest office in Madison Wisconsin, the company
develops advanced imaging and workflow technologies for a range of healthcare
applications. Digital Healthcare designed a rapid applications development platform
based on Microsoft .NET connected technologies framework called iP® and the company
now offers products in Clinical Ophthalmology, Remote Retinal Diagnostic Imaging and
Digital Reading Centers. The company counts several major US defense organizations
and several leading academic institutions among its early adopters. Digital
Healthcare's parent company is based in Cambridge, England, and was formed as a
management buyout from Perkin Elmer Life Sciences (NYSE: PKI) in 1999. In February
2006, Digital Healthcare was awarded the "Best in Class" MS Health Users Group award
for acute care with its OptoMize iP® system.

For more information, please contact the following:
Media Contact: Monica L. Bush - mlb@digital-healthcare.com
Technical Contact: Tony Dolezal - tjd@digital-healthcare.com
CEO: Gerry Skews - gns@digital-healthcare.com
Website: www.digital-healthcare.com


Please Note:
Digital Healthcare is attending the 2006 ASCRS meeting in San Francisco between
March 18 - 2, 20061.
You would be most welcome to visit our booth #2244 if you have an opportunity.



###

Web Site = http://www.digital-healthcare.com

Contact Details = Monica L. Bush
Media Coordinator
Digital Healthcare, Inc.
100 Painters Mill Road, Ste. 730
Owings Mills, Maryland 21117
P: 410.654.8954
F: 410.654.8907
Email: mlb@digital-healthcare.com
www.digital-healthcare.com

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