db4o :: Java & .NET Object Database :: News Release 05/27/2005

db4o Provides Means to Fight Children's Eye Disease
through Massie Labs' Breakthrough Screener
Native Object Database Solves the "Impedance Mismatch"

SAN MATEO, Calif., May 27, 2005 - db4objects, provider of the leading open source object database for Java and .NET, today announced that its technology is now installed in 8 out of 10 top-tier children's hospitals in the US, helping provide ground-breaking advances in the fight against infant eye disease through Massie Laboratories' acclaimed RetCam II Wide-Field Pediatric Retinal Imaging screening system. The db4o native object database serves as the foundation for RetCam II, which is now the clear market leader in the US and widely used in 30 countries around the world.

With its powerful storage and querying capabilities, db4o helps provide a clear view of every aspect of a case from initial screening, through diagnosis, treatment and follow-up. Case management becomes easier and doctors have immediate access to still images, video clips, patient data, instant retrieval and side-by-side comparison. Images or video clips can also be sent to a colleague for consultation on disk or over the Internet.

"In our experience, because the data is being precisely recorded and stored as you do the examination ... we've been able to find tumors (Retinoblastoma) through the RetCam system that we would have missed with the traditional 'manila file' method, or even with more primitive technology," says Elise Héon, M.D. at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada.

According to Greg Sprehn, Massie Labs' VP of Engineering, a chief criteria for selecting db4o was its ability solve the "impedance mismatch" in which records and columns must be converted to objects and qualities - an extremely painstaking and time-consuming task. Whereas a traditional relational database (RDBMS) forces developers to track each instantiation individually, only db4o allows tracking of instances distinctively as part of an application. db4o functions as a library, with no server, client objects, or connection pooling required. It handles all processes within the application, which makes for highly efficient implementation.

"What's important in treating infants is to have the best imaging possible. Until now, doctors were viewing patients' retinas through a magnifying glass (ophthalmoscope) and recording observations on paper using colored pencils or crayons. This system is a 500-year leap in technology, from charcoal to digital," Sprehn said. "Wide-field real time imaging, along with the ability to better document, share, and compare results, enabled by db4o's database - which matches our requirements exactly - makes this a reality."

Bio-medical devices and research are a common area of application for db4o. Part of the reason is the often immense complexity of the underlying object models, which lends itself naturally to object database technology. db4o is particularly popular among bio-medical users in the US, complementing the country's lead in this industry. For Massie Labs, the key strengths of db4o technology are:

the ability to store complex object structures, as they occur in the medical, biotech and healthcare
efficient use of reflection (the capability to self-adjust to changing conditions)
speedy performance
advanced multi-object tracking capabilities
sophisticated ability to isolate and define the database, without the limitations of RDBMS technology in terms of being "isolated"

Massie Laboratories is a medical device company that develops, manufactures, and markets integrated optical systems and services to enhance the clinician's ability to diagnose, manage, and treat eye disorders. These patented devices combine innovative advanced optical, electronic and information technologies that change the very nature of the way eye healthcare is delivered. The company's initial product line has improved the standard of eye healthcare for infants and pediatrics and is sold to leading children's hospitals and medical centers around the globe.

About db4objects, Inc
db4objects, Inc (www.db4o.com) provides db4o, the only native object database for both Java and .NET, available under open source and commercial licenses. With more than 200,000 downloads and many more deployments, db4o is used by some of the world's most innovative companies, including BMW, Hertz, and Bosch. db4objects is a privately held company based in San Mateo, California, and backed by noted Silicon Valley investors including Mark Leslie, founding CEO of Veritas.