Design Continuum and Aspect Medical Systems Receive Catalyst Award for Business Results.

Business Editors

MONTEREY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 19, 2002

Design & Business Catalyst Award Co-sponsored by BusinessWeek and

the Industrial Designers Society of America

Design Continuum Inc. and Aspect Medical Systems will receive this year's only Design & Business Catalyst Award, the first annual award to measure the business results of design.

The Design & Business Catalyst Award is co-sponsored by the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) and BusinessWeek. The award will be presented Saturday, July 20, at the 2002 IDSA National Conference & Design Gallery in Monterey.

The Design & Business Catalyst Award captures data on design impact and demonstrates that design is fundamentally woven into business success. It is the sister award to the coveted annual Industrial Design Excellence Award (IDEA), which reviews the year's best designs. Because new products need a few years to gain traction in the market, the 2002 Design & Business Catalyst Award was chosen from IDEA winners from 1997, 1998 and 1999. The Aspect Medical Systems A-2000 BIS Monitor was a 1999 bronze winner in the Medical & Scientific category, and is the sole recipient of the first Design & Business Catalyst Award.

Aspect introduced BIS technology in 1996 as the first commercially available, direct measure of the effects of anesthetics on the brain and consciousness. The A-2000 BIS Monitor was introduced to the market in March 1998, and has since:

- Grown to an installed base of approximately 13,400 monitors

- Been used to assess more than 5.5 million patients

- Been incorporated into clinical practice at 60 percent of the top-ranked U.S. hospitals (based on a U.S. News & World Report ranking of best hospitals)

- Been installed in more than 26 percent of hospitals in the U.S.

- Become 65% less expensive to manufacture than the previous model

- Expanded international sales into 160 countries

"Aspect's BIS monitor was singled out for this prestigious award because of the design and development focus on driving usability and convenience into the technology while keeping cost and complexity to a minimum," said Gianfranco Zaccai, President and CEO of Design Continuum. "This is the epitome of good user-focused and business-focused design."

Design Continuum will also receive six IDEA awards, joining the ranks of some of the largest and best-known corporations in the world. IDEA award winners were selected from 1,116 entries submitted this year from corporations in 17 different countries.

About Aspect Medical Systems, Inc.

Aspect Medical Systems (NASDAQ: ASPM) is a global market leader in brain monitoring technology. To date, Aspect's Bispectral Index (BIS) technology has been used to assess more than 5.5 million patients and has been the subject of more than 1050 published articles and abstracts. BIS is currently in use in the ORs and ICUs of more than 60 percent of the best-ranked hospitals with operating rooms in the U.S. (based on a U.S. News & World Report ranking of best hospitals) and is available in more than 160 countries. Aspect has secured OEM agreements with the six largest manufacturers of patient monitoring systems and partnerships with six of the largest group purchasing organizations in the United States. Based in Newton, Mass., Aspect employs more than 220 people worldwide. For more information, visit Aspect's web site at http://www.aspectmedical.com.

About Continuum

Design Continuum Inc. is an international design firm that identifies opportunities and brings consumer, technology and medical innovations to a state of market readiness. The company leverages user-focused research to guide product design and development toward successful commercialization. Since 1983, Continuum has extended the research, design and development capabilities of companies worldwide including Andersen Windows, Aspect Medical Systems, BMW, Master Lock, Moen, Procter & Gamble, Roche Diagnostics, Samsung, Sunbeam, and Zeiss. Continuum has offices in Boston, Milan and Seoul. For more information, visit www.dcontinuum.com, e-mail [e-mail] or call 1.800.625.5115.

Certain statements about Aspect in this release and on Aspect's web site are forward-looking statements and may involve risks and uncertainties, including statements with respect to the benefits of, and demand and market acceptance for, Aspect's products, Aspect's competitive position and success of Aspect's marketing strategies. Among the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements are the results of clinical trials, market acceptance of products and products under development, regulatory approval of products under development, regulatory approval of requests for reimbursement, the scope of Aspect's patent protection and other risks included under the heading, "Factors Affecting Future Operating Results," in Aspect's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended March 30, 2002 filed on May 13, 2002, with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition, the statements in this press release represent Aspect's expectations and beliefs as of the date of this press release. Aspect anticipates that subsequent events and developments may cause these expectations and beliefs to change. However, while Aspect may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, it specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Aspect's expectations or beliefs as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.

Bispectral Index and BIS are registered trademarks of Aspect Medical Systems, Inc. A-2000 is a trademark of Aspect Medical Systems, Inc. All other trademarks, service marks and company names are the property of their respective owners.