Cardiac Pathways Granted Patent Related to Its Realtime Position Management Tracking System.

Business Editors/Health & Medical Writers

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 23, 2001

Cardiac Pathways Corporation (NASDAQ: CPWY), a leader in state-of-the-art 3D cardiac mapping and cooled ablation technology, announced today that a U.S. patent has been issued related to its Realtime Position Management (RPM)(TM) Tracking System.

Cardiac Pathways adds this patent to a portfolio of over 75 patents which it owns or has licensed related to various catheters, systems, and methods for the diagnosis and treatment of cardiac arrhythmias. The patent (US 6,216,027), titled "System for Electrode Localization Using Ultrasound," is the first U.S. patent issued to the company related to the technology. Additional patent applications related to the technology are still pending. The patent inventors included the Company's Chief Technologist Parker Willis and Senior Software Technical Leader Jinglin Zeng.

The RPM Tracking System, which was market released in March 2000, allows physicians to view both therapeutic and diagnostic catheters in three dimensions and real time, offering the potential for reduction in procedure times and more precise placement of catheters in the heart. The RPM Tracking System can be used with standard diagnostic catheters to display and process intracardiac electrograms. However, when used with Cardiac Pathways' line of RPM navigation and ablation catheters, the system provides three-dimensional graphic displays that track real-time catheter positions and closely associate all electrograms from these catheters with 3D locations. With this association, activation times for up to six electrogram signals can be collected and placed on a deformable heart model that is representative of heart wall positions derived from catheter positions. These advanced navigation and mapping tools are believed to be essential in improving the process of locating positions in the heart to apply ablative therapy.

About Cardiac Pathways

Cardiac Pathways develops, manufactures and markets minimally invasive systems to diagnose and treat cardiac tachyarrhythmias (abnormally rapid heart rhythms). The company is a pioneer and leader in the development of complete integrated mapping and ablation systems for the diagnosis and treatment of heart rhythm disturbances.

Statements included in this release that are not historical or current are "forward-looking statements" made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. The risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the potential for reduction in procedure times, the Company's ability to gain market acceptance of the Company's products, the Company's ability to successfully obtain regulatory clearance or approvals to market its products, the ability of the Company to cost effectively manufacture and distribute products in commercial quantities, whether the RPM Tracking System will be commercially adopted by physicians, whether RPM technology complements existing and emerging treatment modalities and the Company's ability to effectively compete in the field of electrophysiology against its competitors, many of which have substantially greater financial and other resources.