Aragon Surgical LapCap Gets First Place Award for Best New Instrumentation in Prestigious Daniel F. Kott Competition.

Start-up Honored at AAGL Congress of Minimally Invasive Gynecology Meeting

PALO ALTO, Calif. -- Aragon Surgical, Inc., a venture backed surgical device start-up company, announced today that today it has been awarded first place in the prestigious Daniel F. Kott competition at the 36th AAGL Global Congress of Minimally Invasive Gynecology Meeting in Washington, D.C. Candidates for the award, which recognizes the best new instrumentation of 2007, must submit manuscripts presenting the new instrumentation. The LapCap award-winning manuscript, "A New Technology to Safely, Rapidly, and Reproducibly Pass a Veress Needle," was authored by Dr. Rene Charles, who will receive the award at the meeting this evening.

"We are honored to have been selected as the first prize award winner from the impressive pool of novel surgical instrument candidates," said Dr. Peter Edelstein, a surgeon and President and CEO of Aragon Surgical. "AAGL is an organization of laparoscopic gynecologic surgeons dedicated to improving patient outcomes through the advancement of minimally invasive surgical techniques."

As the initial step in the majority of laparoscopic procedures, gynecologists and general surgeons blindly pass a 12cm-long needle through the patient's abdominal wall and into the abdominal cavity, guided only by subtle, tactile feedback. Correctly positioned, the needle serves as the conduit for instillation of gas into the cavity, creating a "pneumoperitoneum" (the gas-filled space in which laparoscopic surgery is performed). Unfortunately, blind needle passage is an inconsistent maneuver associated with risk of needle injury (to intestines and vessels), patient death, and failure to initially correctly position the needle (increasing patient risk and operative time).

With the Aragon Surgical LapCap, blind needle passage is safe, simple, rapid, and predictable. The novel device utilizes simple suction to rapidly elevate the abdominal wall up and away from the intestines and blood vessels, creating a "safe space" within the peritoneal cavity into which the needle is passed.

Dr. Charles, a gynecologic laparoscopist at Selma (CA) Community Hospital, will present the results of the LapCap clinical trial, which supported FDA clearance, at the Conference on Saturday, November 17th. In the clinical trial, LapCap use resulted in a 100% successful initial needle placement rate with no device or needle-related injuries, deaths, or skin trauma.

"The LapCap received the Innovation of the Year Award at the Society of Laparopendoscopic Surgeons meeting in September. This second such prestigious gynecological society award again emphasizes that the LapCap provides a novel benefit to patients and laparoscopic surgeons," said Christine Cunningham, Aragon Surgical's Vice President of Marketing and Business Development. "With the recent commercial launch of the LapCap, that benefit is now available to gynecologists, general surgeons, and their laparoscopic patients."

About Aragon Surgical, Inc.

Located in Palo Alto, California, Aragon Surgical is a venture backed, market driven surgical device company that is developing and commercializing a variety of surgical instruments intended to reduce operative time and improve patient safety, benefiting both patients and surgeons. Aragon Surgical was founded in 2005 with investments from Delphi Ventures and ONSET Ventures. Please visit us at www.aragonsurgical.com or call Customer Service toll free at [phone].