Pittsburgh, PA -- (SBWIRE) -- 07/14/2010 -- Scientists at ChemImage Corporation are one step closer to making objective diagnoses of renal disease tissue a reality today with the issuance of patent number 7,755,757. This patent describes a Raman molecular imaging (RMI) system and method for distinguishing renal oncocytoma, a benign diagnosis, from chromophobe renal carcinoma, a malignant diagnosis.

Patent number 7,755,757 the company's 106th patent, functions by imprinting a digital stain on tissues and cells, allowing for an objective assessment of similar-looking tissue samples like renal oncocytoma and chromophobe renal carcinoma. Affecting more than 5,000 patients each year, these disease states are often difficult for pathologists to distinguish.

"This is an important step for the future of pathology," said Dr. John Maier, Vice President of Biomedical Research at ChemImage. "Providing objective tools to improve pathologists' ability to discriminate benign from malignant disease will lead to better, more cost effective care."

The method described in the patent relies on the acquisition of Raman molecular images from tissue samples. The images are then analyzed using chemometric-based classification algorithms to compare and classify the sample's disease state.

Although previous research on RMI's ability to characterize diseased kidney tissue samples was presented by ChemImage at the United States & Canadian Academy of Pathology meeting in 2008, a new study to further validate this technique is currently underway.

In addition to renal cancer, ChemImage is also using RMI to examine its ability to predict the outcomes of patients with prostate cancer.

For more information on RMI's role in pathology, visit http://www.chemimage.com/markets/anatomic-pathology/.

About ChemImage
ChemImage Corporation, a leader in Hyperspectral Imaging technology (including Chemical and Molecular Imaging), provides instrumentation, software, contract services and expert consulting to government, industrial and academic organizations. The company's proprietary, state-of-the-art Hyperspectral Imaging technology has many applications, including defense, security, pharmaceuticals, forensics and biomedical diagnostic research, which can reveal critical chemical and biological information from a variety of material systems.

ChemImage's headquarters is located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where it houses research and development laboratories, as well as engineering and manufacturing facilities.

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