ATS Medical Announces Formation of Cryoablation Surgical Advi...( MINNEAPOLIS Jan. 20 /- ATS Medica...)

MINNEAPOLIS, Jan. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ATS Medical, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATSI), manufacturer and marketer of state-of-the-art cardiac surgery products and services, today reported the formation of the ATS Medical Cryoablation Surgical Advisory Board.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040202/ATSILOGO)

This new Cryoablation Surgical Advisory Board reinforces ATS Medical's growing leadership position in surgical ablation. The board is comprised of prominent advocates of the surgical treatment of cardiac arrhythmias, including James L. Cox, MD, ATS Medical Director and creator of the Maze procedure; Niv Ad, MD, Inova Heart and Vascular Institute, Fairfax, VA; Steven F. Bolling, MD, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI; Eva E. Berglin, MD, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Goteborg, Sweden; W. Randolph Chitwood, Jr., MD, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC; Ralph J. Damiano, MD, Washington University, St. Louis, MO; James S. Gammie, MD, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD; A. Marc Gillinov, MD, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH; and Friedrich W. Mohr, MD, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany. The goal of the Cryoablation Surgical Advisory Board is to lend surgeon advocacy and direction to ATS Medical's position and strategy in the surgical ablation market. Additionally, the board is dedicated to ensuring that simplified techniques for performing surgical ablation do not compromise the clinical efficacy of the gold-standard surgical Maze procedure established by Dr. Cox in the mid-1980s.

"Other ablation companies have altered the Maze procedure to meet the limitations of their energy source. Using the ATS CryoMaze(TM) Cryoablation System, which can perform all
'/>"/>