TMR as an Adjunct to Coronary Bypass Surgery Meets Criteria Of Blue Cross/Blue Shield

Eclipse Surgical Technologies (Nasdaq: ESTI), a leading medical device company specializing in cardiac angiogenesis, announced today that its laser heart surgical procedure won a key endorsement as a proven health benefit for patients from the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Eclipse received confirmation from the insurers’ Technology Evaluation Center (TEC) that the laser procedure, called Transmyocardial Revascularization (TMR), “improves net health outcomes” when performed as an adjunct to Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG), commonly known as bypass surgery.

The TEC assessment included patients who would be undergoing CABG but who also have documented areas of heart disease that are not amenable to bypass surgery. In FDA-approved TMR, surgeons use a laser to drill a series of tiny holes in the heart muscle which are believed to stimulate new blood flow (angiogenesis) to the diseased area. A summary of the TEC evaluation of TMR was forwarded to all of the Blue Cross/Blue Shield subscribing health insurance plans.

In developing this assessment, the TEC referenced the clinical results of a randomized, multi-center study sponsored by Eclipse that evaluated the benefits of TMR when performed along with bypass surgery. The results of this study were published in the March 2000 edition of the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. As noted by the TEC, this is the only published journal article to date based on a randomized, multi-center study of TMR as an adjunct to CABG.

“This positive assessment by the TEC is great news for patients in medical need and the hospitals who have already made the commitment to the Eclipse TMR technology,” said Michael J. Quinn, Chairman and CEO of Eclipse. “While Eclipse continues to educate the private insurers about TMR and the Eclipse clinical results, these insurance plans across the country now have an independent assessment of TMR health outcomes upon which to base their reimbursement decisions.”

The TEC program is one of the nation’s preeminent technology assessment services for the health insurance industry. The TEC program rigorously reviews clinical literature to, among other things, determine if the device or procedure improves net health outcomes. In addition to Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans, subscribers to the TEC program include many of the largest private health insurers and Kaiser Permanente, one of the nation’s largest managed care programs. While TEC decisions are not binding on individual Blue Cross Blue Shield plans, the findings are given considerable weight due to the center’s extensive experience in technology assessment.

About Eclipse Surgical Technologies:

Eclipse is a leading medical device company specializing in cardiac angiogenesis. The Company currently manufactures and markets the Eclipse TMR 2000, a solid-state laser system, as well as the Eclipse SoloGrip III, a surgical handpiece with built-in laser fiberoptics. Eclipse products are currently installed in over 250 leading hospitals and medical centers throughout the U.S. TMR is a laser heart treatment in which one-millimeter channels are created in the heart muscle and are believed to stimulate the growth of new blood vessels (angiogenesis). TMR has been shown to reduce angina and improve the quality of life for patients suffering with coronary artery disease.

For more information on the Company and its products, please visit the Eclipse web site at http://www.eclipsesurg.com or for investor information on Eclipse visit the Allen & Caron Inc website at www.allencaron.com.

The forward-looking statements in this news release related to the adoption of the Company’s technology and products and reimbursement of the procedure by private insurers are based on current expectations and beliefs and are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Other factors that could cause Eclipse’s actual results to differ materially are discussed in the “Risk Factors” section of Eclipse’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2000 and Eclipse’s other recent SEC filings. Eclipse disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of developments occurring after the date of this press release.