Power Medical Interventions Launches Green Reload Cartridges For i60 Intelligent Surgical Instruments
Langhorne, PA - Power Medical Interventions(r), Inc. ,a leader in developing and commercializing Intelligent Surgical Instruments, announced recently that it has launched its green reload cartridge for use in its i60 Intelligent Surgical Instruments. The green reload complements the blue reload which was launched previously. The i60 Intelligent Surgical Instrument is a patented, first-of-its-kind linear stapler used in open and endoscopic surgery with indications in gastrointestinal, gynecological, general abdominal, and thoracic surgical procedures for resection, transection, creation of anastomoses, and for open occlusion of the heart's left atrial appendage. Reload cartridges are the ``razor blades'' to the Intelligent Surgical Instrument ``razors'' in the company's recurring revenue business model, and the company expects that sales of reloads will become its largest source of revenue.
PMI's Intelligent Surgical Instruments are computer-assisted, power-actuated endomechanical instruments that surgeons use for cutting, stapling and tissue manipulation in a variety of procedures in open surgery and minimally invasive surgery. The Company believes that compared to conventional endomechanical devices, its Intelligent Surgical Instruments offer greater precision and consistency, superior compressive force, improved access to anatomical sites and enhanced ease of use. PMI's Intelligent Surgical Instruments have been used in over 30,000 surgical procedures worldwide.
Power Medical introduced blue reloads concurrently with the launch of its i60 product in the third quarter of 2007. The launch of the green reloads was delayed due to technical challenges surrounding the design of the slim green reload and its ability to accommodate the larger staples used in green reloads. The launch of the green reloads allows the Company to expand its product offering to cover a wider array of surgical procedures that cannot be completed solely with the blue reloads. In addition, both the blue and green reloads will be used in future products currently in development.
Michael Whitman, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, ``The addition of the green reload expands our ability to meet our customer's request that we become a full line supplier of surgical stapling instruments. We are now able to support a wider array of surgical applications in both our current customer base and in our targeted customer base. Additionally, a number of the single port devices and natural orifice devices that we have under development will utilize our current reload design. Lastly, we previously announced the development of our Reload Automation Machine (RAM), which we expect to have in line during the end of the second quarter of this year. Both the green and blue reloads will ultimately be assembled by us in-house using the RAM, which we expect to enhance our future gross margin. Although we were faced with technical challenges that delayed the launch of this product, our dedicated R&D and manufacturing management were able to overcome these challenges and provide a robust product that we believe will meet our demanding customer requirements. We are confident that we will begin to see increased market penetration as well as increased revenues over the next few quarters as we are now able to supply surgeons with a complete product offering of blue and green reloads to accompany the i60 and our near term product launches.''
SOURCE: Power Medical Interventions, Inc.