Compumed, Inc.

 

CompuMed's DICOM OsteoGram® Featured at 74th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons OsteoGram Integrated with Market Leading Orthopedic PACS System from MEDSTRAT®

 

LOS ANGELES, Feb 21, 2007. CompuMed, Inc. (CMPD.OB) -- a medical informatics company leading the development of advanced imaging technology for cost-effective analysis and monitoring -- teamed up with orthopedic digital imaging leader MEDSTRAT, Inc. to feature the DICOM OsteoGram system at the 74th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), held February 14-18 in San Diego. CompuMed's OsteoGram was integrated with MEDSTRAT'S innovative Picture Archive and Communications System (PACS).

 

The annual meeting of the AAOS is the largest yearly gathering of orthopedic surgeons and allied medical professionals, as well as companies offering products and services specifically for the orthopedic surgeon. This year's meeting attracted more than 14,000 medical professionals.

 

The OsteoGram is CompuMed's automated, computer-aided diagnostic (CAD) system for the rapid screening, diagnosis and monitoring of osteoporosis -- a disease that affects more than 200 million people worldwide. The DICOM OsteoGram was developed to take advantage of the growing market for digital, or filmless, x-ray equipment and networking systems in the orthopedic setting. By residing on the workstations of these advanced digital systems, the OsteoGram software automatically captures and analyzes images directly from either the x-ray equipment or the network. CompuMed licenses the DICOM OsteoGram software to manufacturers of digital x-ray, mammography and networking equipment to place at the point-of-sale. The Company's strategic plan is to migrate to a "per click" service model with recurring revenues.

 

"We view the OsteoGram as a foundation for a remote image analysis platform that assists busy clinicians by automating procedures that are tedious and time-consuming," said CompuMed CEO Jerry McLaughlin. "Coupled with our existing ECG platform and the Internet, we are creating a service business that provides remote analysis and overreads with a recurring revenue model."

 

McLaughlin continued, "The growing interest in our OsteoGram system comes on the heels of significant reductions in reimbursement for DXA technology, our competition in bone mineral density testing. While reimbursements for DXA testing were reduced significantly under pressure from Medicare and the Deficit Reduction Act, approved reimbursements for the OsteoGram have remained unchanged. Over the next few years, clinicians will seek more cost-effective means of testing. Since our technology uses existing equipment, it is logical that we should see opportunities for growth through workstation consolidation and the rapid transition to digital imaging modalities."

 

Osteoporosis is a widespread, silent disease characterized by decreased bone mass and poor bone quality that lead to increased incidence of fractures, typically of the hip, spine and wrist. Osteoporosis is a global public health problem currently affecting more than 200 million people worldwide. In the United States alone, 10 million already have the disease and 18 million are at risk, 80 percent of whom are women. Fifty percent of women will experience an osteoporotic fracture in their lifetime. The acute and long-term medical care expenses associated with these fractures costs the nation in excess of $17 billion annually. Due to the dramatic growth of the elderly population, osteoporosis has become a major public health problem of epidemic proportions.

 

 

About CompuMed:

 

Founded in 1973, CompuMed, Inc. (CMPD.OB) is leading the development of advanced imaging and medical informatics solutions that provide cost effective analysis and monitoring. CompuMed focuses on cardiovascular and musculoskeletal diseases, as well as other diseases associated with aging populations. Its unique expertise in telemonitoring, imaging and analysis facilitates the development of new solutions and services designed to improve healthcare provider workflow and patient care, while reducing costs. CompuMed's core products, the OsteoGram® and CardioGramTM systems, are cleared by the FDA and reimbursable by Medicare. The OsteoGram is an accurate and precise technology for osteoporosis testing. The underlying OsteoGram technology has significant cost advantages over other technologies and will be applied to a suite of value-added applications, such as following the progression of arthritic disease and diagnosing vertebral fractures and scoliosis. The CardioGram system is one of the first telecommunication networks designed to remotely interpret electrocardiograms, and is used by private practice, as well as government and corporate healthcare providers nationwide. The CardioGram delivers online electrocardiogram interpretations within two minutes of receipt, and has the additional capability to automatically provide an over-read (i.e., follow-up review) by a cardiologist. CompuMed is headquartered in Los Angeles. Visit CompuMed at www.compumed.net.

 

 

About MEDSTRAT:

 

MEDSTRAT originated PACS for orthopedic surgeons to optimize patient care, productivity and profitability within orthopedic practices. MEDSTRAT's ECHOES(TM) PACS solutions eliminate analog film, film jackets, film racks, messy chemicals and processing, increase workflow efficiency and staff productivity, and provide significant cost saving opportunities. The ECHOES(TM) PACS solutions enhance patient care as orthopedic surgeons receive improved capacity for patient record storage and retrieval, image enhancement and manipulation, electronic file sharing with referring and collaborating physicians, remote peer consultations, pre-operative digital planning and post-operative digital evaluation.

 

 

About About the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons:

 

Founded in 1933, the Academy is the preeminent provider of musculoskeletal education to orthopedic surgeons. Its continuing medical education activities include a world-renowned Annual Meeting, multiple CME courses held around the country and at the Orthopaedic Learning Center, and various medical and scientific publications and electronic media materials. Learn more at www.aaos.org.

 

 

 

This news release contains forward-looking statements as defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning CompuMed's plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance and underlying assumptions and other statements that are not statements of historical fact. These statements are subject to uncertainties and risks including, but not limited to, product and service demand and acceptance, changes in technology, ability to raise capital, the availability of appropriate acquisition candidates and/or business partnerships, economic conditions, the impact of competition and pricing, capacity and supply constraints or difficulties, government regulation and other risks identified in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All such forward-looking statements are expressly qualified by these cautionary statements. In addition, the Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof, except as required by law.

 

CONTACT: Susan Tellem - Tellem Worldwide, +1 (310) 479-6111 x.16.