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NORMAN, Okla. (December 20, 2001) - Dr. Patrick McCann, founder and president of Ekips Technologies, Inc., announced today the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center (OUHSC) institutional review board has approved the clinical trial of a breath test for early diagnosis of lung cancer. Principal investigators will be Dr. Jean Keddissi and Dr. Alain Eid of the OUHSC Pulmonary and Critical Care Group and Dr. William Potter, associate professor of chemistry at the University of Tulsa. The trial will be conducted at the OU Medical Center in Oklahoma City.

According to Keddissi, lung cancer is the number one killer among all cancers and has seen a sharp increase -- especially among women -- during the past few years as the smoking habits of the 1960s and 1970s are taking a toll. Unfortunately, he adds, there has yet to be an effective, early diagnosis for lung cancer that can assist with better treatment of the disease.

"During the past two decades, researchers have found hundreds of different elements of human breath which can be used to diagnose chronic illnesses," says Dr. Keddissi. "We look forward to working with Ekips to discover which of these elements can be used to diagnose lung cancer through a simple breath test."

McCann, an MIT graduate and professor of electrical engineering at the University of Oklahoma, started Ekips in 1997 to commercialize his laser technology. In just a few short years, Ekips has developed the first, laser-based breath-testing machine -- The Ekips Breathmeter^TM -- that will have an immediate impact on the diagnosis of asthma. In initial laboratory trials, it has proven 100 percent successful at the detection and measurement of specific compounds in exhaled human breath for the purpose of diagnosing asthma and evaluating the severity and level of control for this disease.

"That's why the Ekips Breathmeter technology holds so much promise," Keddissi says. "If we can identify specific combinations of biomarkers that are linked to lung cancer, Ekips Breathmeter can rapidly display the result through the use of its highly sensitive laser technology. This will allow doctors and patients to get a fast, accurate and early diagnosis of lung cancer via a simple breath test."

McCann believes the potential of the Ekips Breathmeter technology in asthma and lung cancer screening and monitoring is significant because it's quick, accurate and non-invasive. "Our goal is for this highly accurate laser technology to eventually replace lung volume measurement and other indirect testing as a screening and monitoring tool for a number of pulmonary diseases," McCann says.

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About Ekips Technologies, Inc. Ekips Technologies, Inc., incorporated in Oklahoma in 1997 to develop, manufacture and market lasers and laser-based systems. The company's proprietary technology enables low-cost fabrication of semiconductor lasers that have performance characteristics superior to those of competing products.