BUSINESS WIRE - 44 Montgomery St, 39th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94104; Tel: (415) 986-4422; FAX: (415) 788-5335 - Tuesday, 19 August 1997.
The Lasette is a small, hand-held battery-operated laser device that produces a small hole in the finger with a single pulse of laser light. The Lasette replaces the steel lancet for capillary blood collection. This initial clearance is for glucose and hematocrit testing in adult patients by professional health care providers. Additional FDA clearances for juveniles in clinical settings and home-use for diabetics will be applied for at a later date.
The Lasette eliminates cross-contamination risks to health care professionals from accidental sticks with sharp steel lancets. The Lasette will be available to every hospital, clinic and private physician. "Nurses are concerned about contracting AIDS or hepatitis from sharps accidents," said Dr. Mark Burge, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Department of Endocrinology. "Often, an accidental stick from a lancet requires nurses to go to the emergency room where they are treated for a possible HIV infection, which includes high doses of AZT for five days, and they are told to refrain from unprotected sex for six months. They are also required to have their blood tested monthly for HIV and hepatitis. Thus, a sharps accident may have a large emotional and lifestyle impact on the health care professional involved, as well as a financial impact on the hospital."
Burge also said: "I feel that there is generally less pain and residual soreness associated with the use of the Lasette. As a person with diabetes, I found the Lasette to be less painful than the conventional steel lancets I now use."
Dr. Neal Friedman, medical director of Lovelace Medical Center Regional Diabetes Program and editor-in-chief of Diabetes Forecast, stated, "Everyone hates lancets; this technology will be a blessing to patients who need to provide fingerstick samples and to health care workers."
Plans call for a fall introduction of the Lasette in clinical markets in the United States and the Far East, with subsequent introductions into Europe. Cell Robotics will display the product at the American Association of Diabetes Educators annual meeting in Denver and the MEDICA convention in Dusseldorf, Germany.
Cell Robotics International Inc., Albuquerque, designs, develops, produces and sells laser research and medical products, including: a Cell Robotics Workstation for research, including LaserTweezers and LaserScissors; an In-Vitro Fertilization Workstation; the Lasette, a laser finger perforator for blood sampling for glucose monitoring; and an Erbium:YAG dermatology laser.
The Lasette was jointly developed with Big Sky Laser Technologies Inc. (BSLT), Bozeman, Montana. BSLT develops laser products and is an OEM manufacturer of lasers. They will manufacture the Lasette.
Further information is available on the Cell Robotics Web site at http://www.cellrobotics.com/cell .
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CONTACT: Cell Robotics International Inc. 505/343-1131, ext. 100, or Craig Rogers, 719/590-1793 or Richmont Consulting Edda Brown or Sean Collins, 213/658-8088
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