SAN DIEGO, Feb. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Zimmer Holdings, Inc. , a leader in the orthopaedics industry, said it will profile several technology enhancements in its Computer Assisted Solutions (CAS) product portfolio during the 74th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons here this week. Among these enhancements are expanded applications for its Zimmer(R) BRIGIT(TM) Bone Resection Instrument Guide and for the iNAV(TM) Portable Electromagnetic Navigation System*. The Company will also introduce its new disposable Zimmer(R) ICE Cube(TM) Instruments for increased precision and ease-of-use in surgery.
“At Zimmer, CAS technologies are not machines intended to replace surgeons; they are value-added SmartTools designed to assist surgeons in improving their clinical results,” said Ray Elliott, Zimmer Chairman, President and CEO. “At the same time we believe these technologies can also help to lower overall health care costs through improved operating room efficiencies, such as potentially reducing by millions of dollars the cost of instruments needed for procedures and speeding the transition between steps in a surgical procedure.”
BRIGIT provides the surgeon with the ability to accurately position instruments based upon patient-specific, pre-operative plans established through a software interface. The surgeon then makes surgical cuts at precise angles required for the patient’s specific anatomy while the positioning arm assists the surgeon in maintaining the desired position. Based upon internal estimates only, BRIGIT may potentially have a payback of less than one year in hospitals doing 1,000 total knee procedures or more per year. Reduced surgery time may create productivity gains of up to 100 more cases a year.
During the AAOS meeting Zimmer will demonstrate the BRIGIT system with the NexGen(R) Complete Knee Solution and the new Zimmer(R) Gender Solutions(TM) Knee.
The iNAV system’s portability and cost effectiveness through a fee-per-use program make navigation affordable for community hospitals and other institutions that may not be otherwise able to absorb the capital cost of traditional navigation systems. The iNAV system now offers Electromagnetic Navigation for the Zimmer Natural Knee(R) II System.
Disposable ICE Cube Instruments enable a surgeon to use a new instrument for every navigated knee surgery through an innovative single use, modestly priced, sterile packaged design.
Worldwide clinical use and internal estimates have shown that the ICE Cubes may improve comparable surgical Operating Room cycle time by as much as 10 percent through reduced instrument setup time, streamlined workflow efficiency during surgery and reduced processing time.
About the Company
Founded in 1927 and headquartered in Warsaw, Indiana, Zimmer is the worldwide #1 pure-play orthopaedic leader in designing, developing, manufacturing and marketing reconstructive and spinal implants, trauma and related orthopaedic surgical products. Zimmer has operations in more than 24 countries around the world and sells products in more than 100 countries. Zimmer’s 2006 sales were approximately $3.5 billion. The Company is supported by the efforts of nearly 7,000 employees worldwide.
Visit Zimmer on the worldwide web at www.zimmer.com View more Zimmer activities during the AAOS meeting week at www.sandiego.zimmer.com
*iNAV(TM) Portable Electromagnetic Navigation System is a trademark of Medtronic, Inc.
Zimmer Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections about the orthopaedics industry, management’s beliefs and assumptions made by management. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of forward-looking terms such as “may,” “will,” “expects,” “believes,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “estimates,” “projects,” “assumes,” “guides,” “targets,” “forecasts,” and “seeks” or the negative of such terms or other variations on such terms or comparable terminology. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, our ability to successfully integrate acquired businesses, the outcome of the Department of Justice investigations announced in March 2005 and June 2006, price and product competition, rapid technological development, demographic changes, dependence on new product development, the mix of our products and services, supply and prices of raw materials and products, customer demand for our products and services, control of costs and expenses, our ability to conduct a successful search for a new chief executive officer and the ability of the new chief executive officer to gain proficiency in leading our company, our ability to form and implement alliances, international growth, governmental laws and regulations affecting our U.S. and international businesses, including tax obligations and risks, product liability and intellectual property litigation losses, reimbursement levels from third-party payors, general industry and market conditions and growth rates and general domestic and international economic conditions including interest rate and currency exchange rate fluctuations. For a further list and description of such risks and uncertainties, see our periodic reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. We disclaim any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be set forth in our periodic reports. Readers of this document are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, since, while we believe the assumptions on which the forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, there can be no assurance that these forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate. This cautionary statement is applicable to all forward-looking statements contained in this document.
Zimmer Holdings, Inc.
CONTACT: Media, Brad Bishop, +1-574-372-4291, orbradley.bishop@zimmer.com, or investors, Sean O’Hara, +1-574-371-8032, orsean.f.ohara@zimmer.com, or Sam Leno, +1-574-372-4790, orsam.leno@zimmer.com, all of Zimmer
