Argon Medical Devices Announces New EMB Forceps, Long-Length Percutaneous Introducers and “Safety-First” Initiative

Athens, TX, March 28, 2007 --(PR.com)-- Argon Medical Devices has three exciting announcements for its customers. First, Argon announces feature enhancements to its industry leading Jawz™ disposable, endomyocardial biopsy (EMB) forceps product family. Next, Argon is introducing a new family of long-length percutaneous introducers for the Interventional Radiology (IR) and Endovenous Laser Treatment markets. Finally, Argon launches a corporate initiative to support health care providers’ Exposure Control Plans through a variety of comprehensive solutions. "Quality, safety, and customer satisfaction are all top priorities at Argon. We are continually looking for new and innovative solutions to help customers provide a greater level of safety in their hospitals,” said Paul L. Mooney, President and Chief Executive Officer of Argon Medical Devices.

Improving on a winning product family

Argon Medical Devices continues to maintain its leadership position in the US disposable biopsy forceps market. Its ease-of-use and clean-sampling (sharp cutting jaws) features have made the Jawz™ product line the preferred device used in endomyocardial biopsies. In an effort to make the Jawz™ product line even better, Argon Medical is releasing an improvement to the line making the devices easier and more comfortable to use.

Responding to customers, their engineers have redesigned the hand set to enable the cardiologists to comfortably angle their hands as if they were using an ergonomically designed pair of scissors. The edges of the finger holes have been rounded to make a “softer feel” with less fatigue and more control. "Even though we are the leader in the disposable endomyocardial biopsy forceps market, we believe it imperative that we listen to our customers and continue to make improvements to the Jawz™ devices," said Paul Huish, Vice President of Marketing for Argon.

Going to great lengths with percutaneous introducers

Argon has reliably manufactured percutanteous introducers and provided them to its health care and OEM customers for over 15 years. Leveraging its expertise in the cardiology, radiology, and critical care markets; the company has engineered a line of percutaneous introducers for the Interventional Radiology (IR) and Endovenous Laser Treatment markets. Demonstrating these products last month at the Society of Interventional Radiologists (SIR) trade show in Seattle, WA; Argon received very positive feedback from clinicians. The company is offering its new introducers in 4F and 5F versions in lengths ranging from 25cm to 85cm.

Taking care of its customers’ safety

Argon Medical Devices has historically provided its customers discrete solutions to help minimize needle-stick injuries and exposure to blood-borne pathogens. Argon has reacted to customer requests with extensive efforts to become latex free and creating custom procedure trays.

To further respond to customer needs, the company is rolling out a comprehensive family of solutions designed to proactively support health care providers’ Exposure Control Plans. Most companies fall short by only offering a safety needle or a stopcock with needle-less entry. However, Argon’s efforts don’t stop there. Argon has a complete offering from closed sampling (KeepSafe) and closed fluid waste (Argo-Bag™) management solutions to splash-proof waste fluid containers (Aspen basin).

Argon Medical Devices, Inc., Athens, TX, a RoundTable Health Care Partners company, is a leading manufacturer and supplier of specialty single-use vascular-access and pressure monitoring devices utilized in the cardiology, radiology and critical care market segments. Products, which are sold individually and as part of custom procedure trays, include the Jawz™ biopsy forceps, Argo-Bag™ fluid control system, One Step™ introducer and ArgoGuide™ hydrophilic guide wire. Argon supplies products to hospital cardiac catheterization laboratories, interventional radiology laboratories and critical care units and maintains over 2,000 direct hospital accounts. Argon’s other customers include medical supply distributors, custom procedure kit packers and OEMs. More information can be found at Argon’s website: www.argonmedical.com. More information about RoundTable Healthcare Partners can be found at www.roundtablehp.com.

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