Benzinga | Dec 15, 2020 09:03AM EST

ENDRA Life Sciences Granted Chinese Patent Titled 'Systems and Methods for Imaging Biological Tissue Structures'

Now Has 78 Patents Issued, Filed, Licensed or in Preparation As Taeus Commercial Launch Plans Advance

ANN ARBOR, MI / ACCESSWIRE / December 15, 2020 / ENDRA Life Sciences Inc. (ENDRA) (NASDAQ:NDRA), a pioneer of Thermo Acoustic Enhanced UltraSound (TAEUS(r)), has recently been issued Chinese Patent ZL 2016 8 00267062 (the '062 patent) entitled "Systems and Methods for Imaging Biological Tissue Structures" from the Chinese Intellectual Property Office (SIPO). This is the seventh Chinese patent issued to ENDRA for its TAEUS technology.

"ENDRA's goal is to develop applications for our proprietary TAEUS technology in areas of high unmet clinical need and for which there are no practical existing tools. The recently issued '062 patent provides more robust intellectual property (IP) protection for our TAEUS platform in a key global market where an estimated 30% of its 1.4 billion citizens are affected by Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease," said Francois Michelon, ENDRA's chief executive officer.

The '062 patent structurally defines a hybrid integrated ultrasound/thermoacoustic system and method that locates and registers the ultrasound and thermoacoustic portions of the invention, relative to each other. It complements ENDRA's Chinese patent ZL 2016 8 00267289, which relates to an ultrasound/thermoacoustic system and method that utilizes separate ultrasound/thermoacoustic systems concurrently.

In the United States the parent application for the '062 patent has received a Notice of Allowance and is expected to issue in the first quarter of 2021, while a similar patent has already been issued in Europe as EP 3 294 142 B1.

"Receipt of the '062 patent is a key step forward in the development of optimized hybrid ultrasound and thermoacoustic imaging systems for a wide variety of clinical applications," added Michelon. "Our IP portfolio continues to grow and currently stands at 78 assets, including those in preparation, filed, issued and licensed."