PMI Labs Signs LungSign(TM) Agreement With University of Chile for Regional Lung Cancer Screening Program

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Aug. 18, 2009) - PMI Labs (Perceptronix Medical Inc. Laboratories) and University of Chile Faculty of Medicine announce the signing of an agreement focused on implementing PMI Labs' proprietary quantitative cytology approach of analyzing sputum specimens to complement a lung cancer screening program for high risk individuals in Santiago and in the northern part of Chile (Metropolitan and Antofagasta Regions).

This project is sponsored by Chile government organization InnovaChile CORFO and its goal is to interview and screen 1100 at risk individuals. The main objective of this project is to establish a baseline screening program and standard protocols as a foundation for developing a national lung cancer screening program in Chile.

"I am happy to announce this new partnership between PMI Labs and the University of Chile Faculty of Medicine which aims to identify individuals at high risk of lung cancer in the regions with highest incidence and mortality by lung cancer in Chile. We have already initiated training for the project's Medical Director and his team on the usage of our equipment. We look forward to supporting their efforts and hope to see this project grow into a national program that can save many lives," says Dr. Bojana Turic, President and CEO of PMI Labs.

"We are very excited to be sponsoring the implementation of a comprehensive approach to lung cancer detection using novel technologies including PMI Labs technologies. This project is well accepted among our colleagues in Chile and is designed to help people in Metropolitan and Antofagasta Second Regions," comments Dr. Lionel Gil, Director of InnovaChile CORFO - Chile Project.

During the pilot period of this partnership, high risk patients will be identified, sputum specimens collected, and slides prepared in Chile. Slides will be sent to PMI Labs in Vancouver, Canada for further preparation, scanning and comprehensive analysis using LungSign(TM) and quantitative cytology. In the second phase of this project, PMI Labs proprietary cytometry equipment will be installed in Chile and PMI Labs will provide its expertise in implementing quantitative automated cytometry in clinical application. Additional details regarding the agreement were not disclosed.

About LungSign(TM) LungSign(TM) offers a safe, virtually painless and convenient method of assessing a patient's risk of lung cancer. It is based on an automated quantitative cytology analysis of sputum. LungSign(TM) also serves as a highly relevant and useful complement to current radiological diagnostic methods (e.g. CT).

About PMI Labs

Perceptronix Medical Inc. Laboratories (Vancouver, Canada) provide anatomic pathology and cancer diagnostics services to medical and dental practices in support of earlier diagnoses for better patient outcomes. PMI Labs offers anatomic pathology services with specialized expertise in oncologic pathology, cytopathology, oral pathology, and pathology consultation.

The company uniquely specializes in early cancer detection using quantitative cytology, including tests for oral cancer (OralAdvance(TM)) and lung cancer (LungSign(TM)). Quantitative cytology provides physicians with a distinctive cytopathology assessment based on an objective, computer-based measurement of large-scale DNA abnormality that can indicate precancerous or cancerous changes.

About of University of Chile and its Faculty of Medicine

University of Chile is the largest and oldest educational institution of Chile. The university has 16 faculties distributed in 13 campuses. For research, it is the most traditional and productive University in the country. Research projects awarded to professors of the University of Chile represents around 30% of all projects supported in the country. It is also the institution with the most publications in ISI journals and has 23,400 undergraduate students, 4,108 graduate students and 25 accrued programs at the PhD level.

The Faculty of Medicine is the biggest and most traditional of the Faculties of Medicine in Chile. It has 8 undergraduate level schools related with health (3,442 students), including Medicine, a public health school, the Institute of Biomedical Sciences ("ICBM") and the University of Chile Clinical Hospital. At the graduate level, the Faculty of Medicine has provided more than 9,000 professionals. In total, the faculty has 1,100 students in 60 programs in different specialties, including 4 PhD programs. The Faculty of Medicine has an important role in research in Chile with 162 projects awarded by public competition. The ICBM is the most important institution in biomedicine research and publications in ISI journals in Chile.