American Shared Hospital Services Announces a Major Affiliation With the Engineering Research Center At the Johns Hopkins University.

SAN FRANCISCO--(BW HealthWire)--Aug. 18, 1999--

AMERICAN SHARED HOSPITAL SERVICES (AMEX:AMS)(PCX:AMS) has become a member of the National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center for Computer-Integrated Surgical Systems and Technology ("ERC" and "CISST") which is operated by The Johns Hopkins University, together with Carnegie Mellon University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and affiliated Hospital partners. This important strategic alliance gives American Shared access to newly-developed surgical equipment and information which it will use while developing The Operating Room for the 21st Century(SM).

American Shared's OR21(SM) program features turnkey development of state-of-the-art surgical suites at major medical centers on a fee-per-use or other shared basis. OR 21 will allow hospitals to offer the most modern facilities to their community, while addressing the capital investment and cost pressures in today's healthcare business environment.

CISST's mission is to significantly change the way surgical procedures are carried out in the 21st century. Its goals are to greatly reduce costs, improve clinical outcomes, and increase the efficiency of health care delivery. Current CISST projects include medical imaging, robotics, medical simulation, surgical instrumentation, computing, telecommunications, instrumentation, interventional guidance and innovative therapies, human-machine interaction and ergonomics.

CISST is working to overcome the limitations of traditional surgery and to extend the surgeon's ability to plan and carry out surgical procedures more accurately and less invasively. CISST emphasizes the interrelationships between surgeons, their equipment and their tools, utilizing advances in engineering technology and computers. Using industrial collaboration and technology transfer concepts, CISST matches private industry with research and development from its affiliates' academic engineering and medical programs. CISST programs foster and speed the transfer of newly-developed concepts and techniques into the practical tools, programs and equipment which are used by surgeons and hospitals to treat their patients.

Major laboratories and programs associated with the Engineering Research Center include: -0-

--   The Johns Hopkins Microsurgery Advanced Design Laboratory, which
     designs and develops innovative microsurgical tools and
     techniques.

--   The Johns Hopkins Urobotics Laboratory, which develops innovative
     robotic devices for minimally invasive surgery.

--   The Computer-Integrated Surgery Laboratory within the Johns
     Hopkins Engineering School, which pursues a broad spectrum of
     medical modeling, visualization, and medical robotics research.

--   The Surgical Planning Laboratory at the Brigham and Women's
     Hospital, which develops innovative methods for preoperative and
     intraoperative 3D medical imaging, surgical planning, and
     surgical guidance.

--   The Center for Medical Robotics and Computer-Assisted Surgery at
     Carnegie-Mellon University and Shadyside Hospital, which applies
     a broad spectrum of innovative technologies to surgical
     procedures.

-0-

Ernest A. Bates, M.D., Chairman and CEO of American Shared Hospital Services, said, "American Shared is extremely pleased and honored to formally join with the affiliates of CISST. This relationship makes us a top-tier participant, working directly with researchers and manufacturers that are revolutionizing many surgical procedures now and in the years ahead. We have years of successful experience, providing state-of-the-art equipment and related services to hospitals on a financially sound and cost-effective basis. Our experience will help speed the movement of products and technologies from research, to practical, daily use in The Operating Room for the 21st Century."

Dr. Russell Taylor, professor of Computer Science at Johns Hopkins, with joint appointments in Radiology and Mechanical Engineering, and Director of the ERC said, "We welcome American Shared Hospital Services as it joins other CISST industrial collaborators, including Integrated Surgical Systems, Inc., the Johnson & Johnson family of Companies, Lockheed Martin Tactical Defense Systems, and Northern Digital Inc. American Shared's participation in CISST further validates our ultimate goal of improving patient care."

This press release may be deemed to contain certain forward-looking statements with respect to the financial condition, results of operations and future plans of American Shared Hospital Services and its business plan for The Operating Room for the 21st Century (OR21), which involve risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, the risks of new technology development, including the Company's limited access to capital and the need for a substantial investment, the unproven market for new medical operating room equipment and services, the limited number of manufacturers of high technology surgical and related products, competition from other providers of operating room facilities, regulatory and contract negotiation issues, the timing of facility construction and equipment installation, technological obsolescence and potential changes in reimbursement rates for surgical procedures. Further information on potential factors that could affect the financial condition, results of operations and future plans of American Shared Hospital Services are included in the filings of American Shared Hospital Services with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1998, its definitive Proxy Statement dated April 23, 1999 for the Annual Meeting of Shareholders held on May 21, 1999, and its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the periods ended March 31, 1999 and June 30, 1999.

American Shared Hospital Services is a medical services company with interests in radiosurgery services (through its 81% interest in GK Financing, LLC) and its program for The Operating Room for the 21st Century(SM). Headquarters are in San Francisco.