Studies Presented at International Society of Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery on the Superior Clinical Outcomes Using the ESTECH COBRA(R) Product Line for Cardiac Ablation.

Cardiac Surgeons Report on the Direct Connection Between Conduction Block Testing with the AFfirm[TM] Bipolar Pacing Probe and Cardiac Ablation Success

SAN RAMON, Calif. -- During last week's 10th Annual International Society of Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery (ISMICS) meeting in Rome, Italy, the COBRA AFfirm Bipolar Pacing Probe was again recognized as the standard of care in successful treatment of Atrial Fibrillation. Mark La Meir, M.D., University Hospital Maastricht in The Netherlands, reported a direct connection between conduction block and successful Surgical Cardiac Ablation.

Dr. La Meir commented in his presentation, "Transmurality equals conduction block, and conduction block must be measured during all surgical ablation procedures as a Standard of Care, thus enhancing the ability to achieve a cure for our Patients."

ESTECH Chief Technical Officer, David Swanson, Ph.D., remarked, "Measuring conduction block has been the standard in the practice of Electrophysiology since the subspecialty's inception over 20 years ago. It is time the same science is applied to Surgical Ablation. Treatment of AF, whether by catheter or surgical technique, must be driven by evidence-based medicine. With the ESTECH AFfirm Bipolar Pacing Probe the measurement of conduction block is simple and very reliable, and with further collaboration between EPs and Surgeons in the COBRA AFfirm Registry, patients will benefit from the best of both techniques."

About ESTECH

Since 1996, ESTECH has pioneered least invasive cardiac surgery techniques with emphasis on least invasive valve procedures and coronary bypass surgery. In 2005, the company received approval to sell the COBRA product line with the Cardiac Ablation indication. The COBRA Bipolar (and all similar Bipolar devices from companies such as Medtronic, Inc. - MDT, NYSE, and AtriCure, Inc. - ATRC, NASDAQ) are indicated for Soft Tissue Coagulation. COBRA products are protected by over 100 U.S. issued patents (ref USPTO 7,115,122 and 9,241,754).