The Design of the Infrascanner™ a Handheld Device for Early Detection of Brain Bleeding Wins Design Award

 InfraScan, a medical device firm specializing in brain injury diagnostic products, announced today that Hasan Ayaz, PhD, Research Assistant Professor in Drexel University has won the Design of Medical Devices (DMD) Three-in-Five award at a premier medical device design competition held at the Design of Medical Devices Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His winning entry described the design of Infrascanner™, a hand-held, point-of-care device to detect bleeding in traumatic brain injury. Dr. Ayaz is leading the development of the Infrascanner™ software in collaboration with InfraScan, Inc. under a mutual grant from the US Navy and Marine Corps.

The Infrascanner™ is a small portable device, which can detect the presence and location of bleeding in the brain based on differential near infrared light absorption of a hematoma and normal brain tissue. It is the first hand-held device of its kind designed to assist emergency room personnel in identifying life threatening brain hematomas, and allowing expedient assessment of patients and facilitating crucial treatment.

The Design of Medical Devices (DMD) Conference (http://www.dmd.umn.edu) provides a forum to bring together world-class medical device designers, researchers, manufacturers, and the public sector to share perspectives and innovations in medical device design. The DMD Three-in-Five Competition is a way for researchers to get immediate feedback about their projects from leaders in medical technology research, engineering & development. Dr. Ayaz competed against 7 finalists from Harvard University, MIT, University of Michigan and Ohio University.

“I congratulate Hasan on this phenomenal recognition,” said Baruch Ben Dor, PhD, president and CEO of InfraScan. “His research is a great example of the life-saving solutions focus of Drexel University, our partner in the design and development of the Infrascanner.

In the general population, an estimated 1.5 million individuals seek medical treatment for head trauma in the U.S. each year, and a total of 10 million individuals seek head trauma treatment annually worldwide. The Infrascanner has obtained its CE mark, European marketing clearance, and is now being marketed in Russia, Italy, Romania, Poland, Bulgaria, Croatia, Saudi Arabia, Panama, Greece, Turkey and India. Further sales and marketing networks are being established in additional countries and regions. The company has conducted a pivotal multicenter study in the U.S. and has made a DeNovo application to the U.S. FDA. The product is currently under review with FDA.

About InfraScan:
InfraScan, Inc. is a medical device company that focuses on developing, commercializing and distributing hand-held diagnostic devices for head injury and stroke based on near infrared (NIR) technologies. The company has received early-stage funding from the U.S. Marine Corps, Office of Naval Research, BioAdvance, the Biotechnology Greenhouse of Southeastern Pennsylvania, Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania, and from the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation. For more information visit http://www.infrascanner.com.

About Drexel University:
Drexel was founded in 1891 by financier and philanthropist Anthony J. Drexel, and remains a private, nonsectarian coeducational institution. The University offers 96 bachelor's, 88 master's and 35 doctoral programs, a doctor of medicine program, a juris doctor program, and 45 graduate-level certificate programs. Since its founding in 1891, Drexel University has distinguished itself by emphasizing experiential learning in its curriculum through its cooperative education program. Each year 1,300 companies in 30 states and 25 international locations choose Drexel students to work within their organizations, fulfilling their hiring needs, while offering students critical real-world experience to jumpstart their careers. Drexel is the nation's 14th largest private university and is ranked second among national universities in the U.S. News & World Report list of "Up-and-Comers."