[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 64 (Monday, April 3, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Page 17521]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-8105]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

National Institutes of Health


Prospective Grant of Exclusive License: Development of 
Instruments for Diagnostic and Surgical Applications Based on 
Spectroscopic and Hyperspectral Imaging Techniques

AGENCY: National Institutes of Health, Public Health Service, DHHS.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: This is notice, in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 209(c)(1) and 37 
CFR 404.7(a)(1)(i), that the National Institutes of Health (NIH), 
Department of Health and Human Services, is contemplating the grant of 
an exclusive license worldwide to practice the invention embodied in: 
U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 09/182,898, entitled 
``Multispectral/Hyperspectral Medical Instrument'', filed October 30, 
1998; U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 09/389,342 entitled ``Infrared 
Balloon Probe'' filed September 2, 1999, and US Provisional Patent 
Application SN 60/142,068, entitled ``Dual Modality Imaging 
Apparatus'', filed July 2, 1999, to HyperMed, Inc. having a place of 
business in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. The United States of America 
is an assignee to the patent rights of these inventions.
    The contemplated exclusive license may be limited to the 
development of diagnostic instruments, devices, compositions and 
methods, to be used for diagnostics based on the spectral 
differentiation between healthy and unhealthy/damaged tissue.

DATES: Only written comments and/or applications for a license which 
are received by the NIH Office of Technology Transfer on or before July 
3, 2000 will be considered.

ADDRESSES: Requests for a copy of the patent application, inquiries, 
comments and other materials relating to the contemplated license 
should be directed to: Uri Reichman, Ph.D., Technology Licensing 
Specialist, Office of Technology Transfer, National Institutes of 
Health, 6011 Executive Boulevard, Suite 325, Rockville, MD 20852-3804; 
Telephone: (301) 496-7056, ext. 240; Facsimile: (301) 402-0220; E-mail: 
[email protected]. A signed Confidential Disclosure Agreement will be 
required to receive copies of the patent application.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The three patent applications describe 
medical imaging technologies and related instrumentation and their 
application for surgical ``real time'' diagnostics. The inventions are 
based on the difference of spectral images between normal and damaged 
(e.g. ischemic or cancerous) tissues due to chemical differences 
between them. Patent Application 09/182,898 describes a surgical and 
diagnostic camera, based on visible and near infrared hyperspectral 
imaging technique. This instrument can be used during heart surgery to 
distinguish between ischemic and normal tissues, or for cancer surgery 
applications to determine tumor margins during resective surgery. 
Patent Application 09/389,342 describes a device for use in the field 
of medical endoscopy. It is a fiber-optics imaging device based on a 
balloon probe that has been adapted to obtain spectroscopic information 
in the infrared spectral region. It can be used, for example, for the 
determination of the chemical composition of arterial plaques in situ. 
Patent application 60/142,068 describes a Dual Modality Imaging 
Apparatus and method comprising means of fusing thermal image and 
hyperspectral data. While the hyperspectral data provides information 
about tissue status and viability, thermal imaging provides information 
related to blood flow.
    The prospective exclusive license will be royalty-bearing and will 
comply with the terms and conditions of 35 U.S.C. 209 and 37 CFR 404.7. 
The prospective exclusive license may be granted unless, within 90 days 
from the date of this published Notice, NIH receives written evidence 
and argument that establishes that the grant of the license would not 
be consistent with the requirements of 35 U.S.C. 209 and 37 CFR 404.7.
    Properly filed competing applications for a license filed in 
response to this notice will be treated as objections to the 
contemplated license. Comments and objections submitted in response to 
this notice will not be made available for public inspection, and, to 
the extent permitted by law, will not be released under the Freedom of 
Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 522.

    Dated: March 24, 2000.
Jack Spiege,
Director, Division of Technology, Development and Transfer, Office of 
Technology Transfer.
[FR Doc. 00-8105 Filed 3-31-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-M