IPLab to Perform an Integral Role As Part of NASA's Neurolab Mission

(FAIRFAX, VA -- April 13, 1998) Scanalytics is extremely pleased to announce that our IPLab image processing laboratory software has been chosen by researchers from Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital to take part in NASA's first exclusive life sciences mission. This Neurolab mission, aboard the space shuttle Columbia, will focus on the effects of microgravity on neuronal development in an effort to better comprehend nervous system development on earth. Thirty-two experiments will be conducted during the mission, compiled by renowned scientists from across the globe, including Japan, France, Italy and the United States. The shuttle's Neurolab mission will take place from April 16th to May 1st, 1998.

In particular, IPLab software will be used on a project developed by Professor of Neurology Kenneth S. Kosik, M.D., and Justin Harder, research associate, from Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital. "This study is designed to determine whether the sensory information provided by gravity after birth is necessary for the development of spatial ability," stated Dr. Kosik. The prominent scientists will be utilizing IPLab to quantitate neuronal and dendritic patterns in developing rat brains following sixteen days in space. IPLab was chosen to analyze this preliminary tissue both for the duration of the flight and for a short period following the space shuttle's landing. Medical applications of this study could affect a variety of patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease, muscular dystrophy and stroke; brain afflictions in which spatial ability is impaired.

"We are extremely honored to have our IPLab software take part in NASA's Neurolab mission," exclaimed Scanalytics President, Dr. Michael Mort. "We want the whole universe to know the benefits IPLab offers to the scientific and medical communities."