Escalon Medical Profile
Escalon Medical Corp. operates in the healthcare market. The company is specializing in the development, manufacture, marketing and distribution of medical devices for ophthalmic applications.
The company's division is called Trek and its wholly owned subsidiaries include Sonomed, Inc. (Sonomed), Escalon Digital Solutions, Inc. (EMI), and Sonomed IP Holdings, Inc.
A-Scans
The A-Scan provides information about the internal structure of the eye by sending a beam of ultrasound along a fixed axis through the eye and displaying the various echoes reflected from the surfaces intersected by the beam. The principal echoes occur at the cornea, both surfaces of the lens and the retina. The system displays the position and magnitudes of the echoes on an electronic display. The A-Scan also includes software for measuring distances within the eye. This information is primarily used to calculate lens power for implants.
B-Scans
The B-Scan is primarily a diagnostic tool that supplies information to physicians where the media within the eye are cloudy or opaque. Whereas physicians normally use light, which cannot pass through such media, the ultrasound beam is capable of passing through the opacity and displaying an image of the internal structures of the eye. Unlike the A-Scan, the B-Scan transducer is not in a fixed position; it swings through a 60 degree sector to provide a two-dimensional image of the eye.
UBM
The UBM is a high frequency/high resolution ultrasound device, designed to provide highly detailed information about the anterior segment of the eye. The UBM is used for glaucoma evaluation, tumor evaluation and differentiation, pre- and post-intraocular lens implantation and corneal refractive surgery. The device allows the surgeons to perform precise measurements within the anterior chamber of the eye.
Pachymeters
The pachymeter uses the same principles as the A-Scan, but the system is tailored to measure the thickness of the cornea. Central corneal thickness is used in the calculation of intraocular pressure. Pachymetry is also used by refractive surgeons to screen candidates and help plan surgery.
Ispan Intraocular Gases
The company distributes two intraocular gas products C3F8 and SF6, which are used by vitreoretinal surgeons as a temporary tamponade in detached retina surgery. Under a non-exclusive distribution agreement with AirGas, Inc. (AirGas), the company distributes packages of AirGas gases in canisters containing up to 25 grams of gas. Along with the intraocular gases, the company manufactures and distributes a patented disposable universal gas kit, which delivers the gas from the canister to the patient.
Surgical Packs
The company markets disposable surgical packs used in vitreoretinal surgery, including packs which aid surgeons in the process of injecting and extracting silicone oil.
AXIS Image Management
The AXIS Image Management system easily manages ophthalmic diagnostic images via a web browser from any device regardless of modality, device manufacturer or location.
Manufacturing and Distribution
The company has registered its facilities with the FDA and has attained ISO 13485 certification for its facilities and medical devices. The company has obtained European Community certification (CE-Mark) for many of its medical devices.
Marketing and Sales
The company's products are sold through independent sales representatives, a network of distributors, and internal sales employees directly to medical institutions, throughout the world.
Service and Support
The company maintains a full-service program for all products sold. The company provides limited warranties on all products against defects and performance. Product repairs are made at the company's New York facility for ultrasound products. Service support for AXIS Imaging Management and surgical products are provided remotely.
Patents, Trademarks and Licenses
The company has 2 United States patents that cover its technology.
Competition
Sonomed's principal competitors are Quantel, Inc. and Accutome, Inc.
Trek's competitor for the ISPAN gases is Alcon Laboratories. Trek's competitors for its surgical packs include Alcon Laboratories and Bausch & Lomb.
EMI's principal competitors are Carl Zeiss Meditec Inc. and Topcon Healthcare Solutions.
Research and Development
For the year ended June 30, 2023, the company's research and development expenses were approximately $820,000.
Governmental Regulations
The company's products are subject to stringent ongoing regulation by the United States Food and Drug Administration (the FDA) and similar health authorities, and if these governmental approvals or clearances of its products are restricted or revoked.
The company has received the necessary FDA and other necessary regulations clearances and approvals for all products that it markets. The company must obtain either 510(K) clearances or pre-market approvals and new drug application approvals prior to marketing a product in the United States. The FDA and similar health authorities in foreign countries extensively regulate the company's activities.
The company has received CE approval on several of its products that allows the company to sell the products in the countries comprising the European Community.
History
Escalon Medical Corp. was founded in 1987. The company was incorporated in California in 1987 and was reincorporated in Pennsylvania in 2001.
