BROSSARD, Québec, Feb. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Diagnos Inc. (“DIAGNOS” or “the Corporation”) (TSX Venture:ADK), (OTCQB:DGNOF), a leader in early detection of critical health issues through the use of its FLAIRE platform based on Artificial Intelligence (AI), announces today a positive conclusion to multiple pilots project by signing a three-year contract with Kanhoor Medical Co. (Kanhoor) in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Diabetes mellitus is one of the largest global health crisis of the 21st century and a major public health problem in Saudi Arabia in parallel with the worldwide diabetes pandemic.  The prevalence of diabetes is progressing strongly year after year in this country.  Diabetes is now present in much younger age group, which in turn will most likely result in growth of Diabetic Retinopathy (DR).  As per the World Health Organization (WHO), Saudi Arabia ranks seventh in the world for diabetes. Approximately seven (7) million of the population in Saudi Arabia are diabetic and around three (3) million are pre-diabetic.  This represents a pool of ten (10) million patients in need of being screened yearly for DR.

For the past 10 months, DIAGNOS and Kanhoor teams have worked diligently on four pilots.  In partnership with Al Kahhal Medical Complex, the first two successful pilots were in Dammam and AL-Hasha in the eastern province of Saudi Arabia. We just completed our third pilot in Riyadh at the Shaqra General Hospital and we now are screening patients at the prestigious King Faisal Hospital.

The results were convincing and generated a very positive endorsement from the medical team involved.  Kanhoor has agreed to extend its agreement with DIAGNOS for three years.  “Our objective is to screen every diabetic patient in the Kingdom with CARA in extending the services to the private health sector, NGO’s and in the public system as well. “Our short term objective is to screen 35,000 in the coming year.  We’re in discussions with other health providers with our neighbouring countries in the Middle East so they can also benefit from early detection,” said Rashid Al Mugait, president of Kanhoor.

In order to support this new service, we are announcing the creation of grading centre in Dammam. The grading centre will use DIAGNOS AI (Artificial Intelligence) technology to support its activity and it will be connect virtually to all the screening clinics of Kanhoor Medical Go.  “Right at the screening site, at risk patients will know right away if additional treatments are needed to protect their vision.  The solution will help us to screen more patients and at lower cost. The patients will gain a better access to care to avoid risks, delay and undue stress for them and their families,“ said Dr Abdulaziz Rushood from Al Kahhal Medical Complex.  Dr Rushood is an ophthalmologist, vitreo retinal surgeon and Assistant Professor at King Fahd University Hospital.

“This announcement by Kanhoor is very strategic for the growth of DIAGNOS in Saudi Arabia, the Gulf region and the Middle-East.  We now have a highly technical savvy partner with strong ties in the market to sell our technology in this region of 22 countries.  By creating a grading center in Saudi Arabia, we will strengthen our collaboration with this medical community and tremendously increase the efficiency of the screening process to benefit the patients,” said Yves-Stéphane Couture, DIAGNOS Vice-President of sales.

About Kanhoor Medical Co:

Al Kanhoor is focusing on telemedicine in KSA providing technology for remote patients observation, marketing Diagnos suite of products in KSA and beyond. Al Kanhoor is a sister company of HAJZTELECOM “HTC” Technology & Telecom solutions provider and contractor to Saudi Telecom -STC- contractor since 1997.

About CARA

CARA is a tele-ophthalmology platform that integrates with existing equipment (hardware and software) and processes at the point of care (POC) and comprises: image upload, image enhancement automated pre-screening, grading by a specialist, and referral to a specialist.  CARA’s Artificial Intelligence, based on FLAIRE technology, image enhancement algorithms make standard retinal images sharper, clearer, and easier to read. CARA is accessible securely over the internet, and is compatible with all recognized image formats and brands of fundus cameras, and is EMR compatible.  CARA is a cost-effective tool for screening large numbers of patients, in real time and has been approved by regulatory authorities including Health Canada, US Food and Drug Administration, the European Union and others.

Additional information is available at www.diagnos.ca  and www.sedar.com.

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This news release contains forward-looking information. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in these statements. DIAGNOS disclaims any intention or obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

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