| October 5, 2001 |
 |
Intuitive Surgical (US) and Olympus
Announce
the Joint Development of World's First Ultrasonic Surgical System
in Robotic Endoscopic Surgery |
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|
 |
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| da VinciTM Surgical System with "SonoSurg" built-in |
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| * This news release is only for the Japanese Market. |
| Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. (hereinafter "Olympus")
(President: Tsuyoshi Kikukawa) and Intuitive Surgical Inc. (hereinafter "Intuitive"),
Mountain View, CA, (President & CEO: Lonnie M. Smith) have agreed to
use the advanced ultrasonic surgery technologies of Olympus in the state-of-art
da VinciTM Surgical System developed by Intuitive. The result
from the collaboration between Intuitive and Olympus is named da VinciTM Ultrasonic
Shears. It is the medical industry's first robotic, fully integrated ultrasonic
device, which allows surgeons to perform both cutting and coagulation applications. |
|
| The da VinciTM Ultrasonic Shears, which is
powered by the Olympus "SonoSurg" generator, features a cost-effective
design that enables multi-use. It also provides a speedy cutting and delivers
a high-performance coagulation simultaneously. The da VinciTM Ultrasonic
Shears and the da VinciTM Surgical System of Intuitive, and
the "SonoSurg" generator of Olympus used with da VinciTM Surgical
System will be marketed in Europe and the United States. |
|
| The da VinciTM Ultrasonic Shears will be featured
at the 87th Annual Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons
on October 7-12, 2001 in New Orleans, LA. |
|
 |
| da VinciTM Ultrasonic Shears |
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| About the da VinciTM Surgical System: |
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| The da VinciTM Surgical System consists of
a surgeon's viewing and control console, having an integrated, high-performance
InSite(tm) 3-D vision system, a patient-side cart consisting of three robotic
arms that position and precisely maneuver endoscopic instruments and an
endoscope, and a variety of articulating EndoWristTM instruments.
By integrating computer-enhanced technology with surgeons' technical skills,
Intuitive believes that its system enables surgeons to perform better surgery
in a manner never before experienced. The da VinciTM Surgical
System seamlessly and directly translates the surgeon's natural hand, wrist
and finger movements on instrument controls at the surgeon's consol outside
the patient's body into corresponding micro-movements of the instrument
tips positioned inside the patient through small puncture incisions, or
ports. |
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| About the "SonoSurg" Ultrasonic Surgical System: |
|
| The "SonoSurg" Ultrasonic Surgical System uses
the energy of ultrasonic vibrations. The device cuts through tissue and
blood vessels with scissors that transmit ultrasonic vibrations, and it
makes incisions after coagulation to prevent bleeding through heating to
a level that does not cause carbonization. |
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| About Intuitive Surgical Inc. |
|
| Established: |
December 1995 |
| Address: |
1340 W. Middlefield Road, Mountain View, California 94043 USA |
| Business: |
Manufacturer of Robotic Surgical Systems and Instruments |
| Capitalization: |
35 million shares outstanding, traded on the NASDAQ as ISRG |
| Sales: |
Revenue of $27 million in 2000. Projected revenue for 2001 in range
of $50 million |
| Employees: |
Over 200 |
|
|
| About Intuitive Surgical Inc. |
|
| Established: |
October 1919 |
| Address: |
Shinjuku Monolith, 3-1 Nishi-shinjuku, 2-chome, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo
163-0914, Japan |
| Business: |
Manufacturing and sale of equipment and devices relating to the medical
and health-care, imaging and information, and industrial application
areas. |
| Capitalization: |
¥40, 832 million (as of March 2001) |
| Sales*: |
¥466, 704 million (as of March 2001) |
| Employees: |
4,282 (as of March 2001) |
|
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| * Consolidated Olympus Group |
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*Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. was changed to OLYMPUS CORPORATION as of October 1, 2003.
*The company names and product names specified in this release are the trademarks or registered trademarks of each company.
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