Market Opportunities
Longport, Intl. is a medical technology company that specialises in high resolution ultrasound imaging.
Longport is currently investing in a series of validation studies to establish quantifiable clinical and cost benefit data on the use of our technology across the market opportunities described below. Longport has secured patents and copyrights for its technology and gained FDA permission to market in the USA and addressed the requirements to CE mark its products.
The skin and underlying few centimetres of soft tissue are impacted by many diseases and injuries that affect tens of millions of people across the world and cost billions of dollars annually. Despite the magnitude of the problems, the range of practical imaging tools available to clinicians to help assess and monitor these conditions is extremely limited; and in fact is predominately restricted to visual/optical examination or tissue damaging biopsies.
High resolution ultrasound is one of the few imaging modalities that can be used to image this region with a combination of the necessary resolution, imaging depth range and the capacity to differentiate between subtle tissue changes. Longport has developed a patented, highly flexible imaging system, EPISCAN, capable of imaging this region using ultrasound with centre frequency up to 50MHz that has been engineered to be clinically practical.
The potential magnitude of the opportunity currently accessible by this technology is summarised below:
Chronic Wounds, including pressure ulcers, inflict some 10% of the hospitalised population of the western world as well as many patients that visit day clinics. In the UK it has been reported that pressure ulcer prevalence ranges from 10 to 33% in different groups of defined patients. In 1994 it was conservatively estimated that the cost of pressure ulcers to the UK health service of providing additional intensive nursing, special equipment and extending hospital stays exceeded £750 million. (RCN report, Pressure Ulcer Risk Assessment and Prevention). Some 5 million people in the US suffer from chronic wounds and the cost of chronic wound care has been estimated in various reports and articles to range from $16 billion to $24 billion each year. The elderly are particularly at risk from these conditions with the 18,000 nursing homes across the USA being burdened with the escalating costs associated with pressure ulcers coupled with more stringent regulations aimed at reducing this problem. The Western World's aging population will inevitably lead to a substantive increase in the occurrence of all chronic wound conditions in future years.
High frequency ultrasound can detect developing pressure ulcers earlier, allowing targeted intervention to be initiated sooner. This can lead to reduced open wounds and lower operating costs. A long-term care facility using Longport's scanner reported they saved $30,000 in a single year strictly in "hard dollar" operating costs (e.g., savings in wound dressings and other wound associated supplies) after they introduced the system (Long-Term Care Survey Alert, April 2005). Further, the scanner can help create a better record of care provision, which in turn is expected to reduce exposure to pressure ulcer litigation. Insurance premiums driven by pressure ulcer litigation are an ever-escalating cost in many nursing homes.
Clinicians have also used the EPISCAN to assess open wounds and utilise this information to develop improved treatment protocols.
We believe that there are a number of target Customers including:
- Long-term Care Facilities
- Rehabilitation Centers
- Acute Hospitals - Many Departments
- Wound Centers
- Podiatrists
- Physical Therapists
- Wound Care Companies to validate new products
Aesthetics - Demand for anti-aging products is expected to reach $30 billion in 2009 (Anti-Aging Products, June 2005, Freedonia Group) propelled by a stream of new and improved products. New technologies and alternatives to traditional cosmetic surgery have opened up a huge new market for anti-aging products. Cosmetic facial rejuvenation is no longer the domain of just plastic surgeons, but represents a booming business for a large number of dermatologist and other practitioners. Botox, dermal fillers, resurfacing modalities, lasers, and other alternatives are creating a dynamic and growing marketplace that we believe would also include scar assessment.
One of the major weaknesses of the aesthetics marketplace is a lack of assessment tools to validate procedures and assess the impact of treatments on clients. High frequency ultrasound can provide both qualitative and quantitative data in this whole arena, a capability that has been substantially enhanced by Longport's higher resolution probes that operate at frequencies up to 50MHz. Tests have shown that the impact of treatments such as laser skin rejuvenation can be detected earlier with ultrasound allowing better patient specific treatment protocols to be developed and to validate new devices and treatments. Further, Longport's scanner can be a powerful promotional tool for any centre.
Again, we see a number of target customers including:
- Dermatologists
- Plastic Surgeons
- Medical Aesthetic Centers
- Manufactures of Skin Care Products and Treatments
Skin Cancer - The American Cancer Society estimates that during 2005, about 1 million new cases of basal cell or squamous cell carcinoma and about 59,580 new cases of malignant melanoma will be diagnosed in the USA. It is also expected that skin cancer will claim the lives of approximately 10,590 Americans. Cancer Research UK reported that in 2001 more than 62,700 cases of non-melanoma skin cancers were reported in the UK; in the same year 7,300 cases of melanoma were reported, with 1,770 dieing as a result of this condition in 2003. Although death rates from basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas are low, these cancers can cause considerable damage and disfigurement if they are untreated.
The August 2005 the Journal of the American Medical Association published a study undertaken by the Mayo Clinic that recorded a 74% increase in the occurrence of basal cell and squamous cell carcinoma in people under 40 years of age from 1976-79 to 2000-03. In the UK the incidence of melanoma has more than doubled in the last 20 years. (Quinn,M.et al., Cancer Trends in England and Wales 1950-1999. Vol. SMPS No.66. 2001. Similar dramatic increases in skin caner rates have been reported across the world.
High frequency ultrasound can be used to map most types of skin lesions, including provide information on lesion depth. This data is expected to enable better intervention planning, including surgical planning, to be undertaken. Reoccurrence rates for skin cancer following treatment can be as high as 50% dependent upon cancer type, lesion size and treatment modality. Recurrence rates associated with the simple excision of a primary basal cell tumour is between 12% and 25% (National Cancer Institute). Inadequate clearance of margins is the primary reason for these high reoccurrence rates. Skin lesions are the only tumour type that are not automatically imaged on presentation; the reasoning behind this seems to be simply a historical lack of suitable equipment. It should be noted that many dermatologists and plastic surgeons (the two targeted customers in this segment) are involved in both this application of the scanner and aesthetics, as described above, therefore the EPISCAN can impact many aspects of their businesses.
Other Applications -Many other applications are believed to exist for the Company's technology, including burn assessment, superficial musculoskeletal imaging, and other tumour mapping applications. Longport is also continuing to expand its technology so allowing the company to expand its market opportunity.