BOULDER, Colo., April 7, 2004 -- /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The benefits of Encision's (Amex: ECI) AEM® surgical instrument technology were highlighted during the scientific session at last week's meeting of the Society of American Gastrointestinal Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES).

At the 2004 SAGES meeting held last week in Denver, Colorado, Dr. Yuri Casseres presented data on the incidence of insulation failure of conventional endoscopic surgical instruments in a 33 hospital study. Insulation failure of a laparoscopic surgical instrument is a significant issue since it can lead to an unintended, unseen burn injury to the patient; a well-documented risk during minimally invasive surgery. Such burns to non-targeted tissue are dangerous as they can go unrecognized at surgery and may lead to complications and a cascade of adverse events for the patient.

In this research, a total of 1,438 conventional laparoscopic instruments were inspected and tested and Dr. Casserses reported that:

   • 18% of the instruments had insulation flaw(s).

     • Of those, 58% had insulation flaws in an area which would be outside
        the surgeons' field of view during the surgical procedure; hence, over
        10% of all instruments in use at these hospitals are susceptible to
        causing stray current to unintended tissue unseen by the surgeon.

     • 57% of the flawed instruments had failures which were not visible to
        the naked eye; therefore a protocol of visual inspection of the
        instruments is not an adequate solution.

Dr. Casseres concluded, "The number of insulation defects is unacceptably high and may lead to unnecessary and easily avoidable complications."

The moderator of the podium presentations concurred that "this is a huge problem" since patient fatality is a possible outcome. Dr. Casseres stated that "active electrode monitoring appears to be a promising technology to address this issue."

Encision's AEM® Surgical Instruments are 'shielded and monitored' to prevent stray electrosurgical burn injuries to unintended tissue, a well-documented patient safety risk in minimally-invasive surgery. AEM Instruments incorporate 'active electrode monitoring' technology to dynamically monitor the integrity of the instruments continuously during the surgical procedure, thus helping to prevent an inadvertent patient injury. Electrosurgery instruments are used by an estimated 85% of general surgeons in the U.S. and are considered the gold-standard tool for surgeons worldwide for cutting, coagulating and ablating tissue.

Encision Inc. designs and manufactures innovative surgical devices that allow the surgeon to optimize technique and patient safety during a broad range of surgical procedures. Based in Boulder, Colorado, the Company pioneered the development of patented AEM® Laparoscopic Instruments to improve electrosurgery and reduce the chance for patient injury in minimally invasive surgery.