Intralase Will Develop Laser Systems For E...( ANN ARBOR Mich.--The University of Mi...),Health

ANN ARBOR, Mich.--The University of Michigan's Board of Regents has approved a license agreement for a new U-M company---IntraLase Corporation---which will develop and market a new generation of lasers for eye surgery and other high-precision medical applications. The company is being formed in collaboration with Escalon Medical Corporation of Skillman, N.J., with financing from the Enterprise Development Fund of Ann Arbor.

"IntraLase ophthalmic lasers will deliver extremely short pulses of light, which can cut within the delicate structures of the eye, such as the cornea, while avoiding damage to overlying or adjacent tissue---something not possible with current clinical laser technology," said Ron Kurtz, assistant professor of ophthalmology at the U-M Medical School and a co-founder of the company.

According to co-founder Tibor Juhasz, associate research scientist in the U-M Medical School's Kellogg Eye Center and the College of Engineering's Center for Ultrafast Optical Sciences (CUOS), IntraLase will develop its first products for refractive surgical procedures, which correct near-sightedness and other vision deficiencies. The company will then target glaucoma, cataract and dermatological surgery.

"IntraLase demonstrates the U-M's many strengths as a research university, especially its capacity to integrate new technology with basic research and turn it into a life-enhancing medical intervention," said Marvin G. Parnes, U-M assistant vice president
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Contact: Sally Pobojewski
pobo@umich.edu
(313) 647-1844
University of Michigan
21-Nov-1997