Digital Healthcare announces new Diagnostic Imaging System for Diabetic Retinopathy

(I-Newswire) March 4, 2006 - Baltimore, MD - March 3. 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.

Company Contact Information
Digital Healthcare, Inc.