Hydrocision Announces New Investment to Accelerate Growth of Novel Fluidjet Technology for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery; New CEO Named

NORTH BILLERICA, Mass., Sept. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- HydroCision Inc. (www.hydrocision.com), a privately held medical device company, announced today the purchase of the majority of the Company by new investors, led by venture capital firms Volcano Capital, Bioventures, and Omega Funds. HydroCision is the developer, manufacturer, and marketer of SpineJet®, whose innovative Fluidjet surgical technology allows discectomy and interbody fusion procedures to be performed faster, less invasively, and with a higher degree of precision than traditional surgical modalities.

The parties also announced the appointment of Howard Donnelly to the position of President and CEO of HydroCision. Donnelly has more than 20 years of executive-level experience in the medical device industry. In addition to serving on several medical device company boards, he was the past President of Level 1, a medical device subsidiary of Smiths Group.

HydroCision will focus on several core strategies designed to strengthen its worldwide position in the spine market. "The global market for minimally invasive spine procedures is growing rapidly," noted Donnelly. "This new investment and strategic direction will allow HydroCision to extend its technology leadership with a very strong product suite that will benefit both clinicians and patients."

HydroCision plans to invest in U.S.-based research projects to further validate the clinical and economic value of HydroCision products for the medical community and the insurance industry. "We believe a stronger medico-economic justification for the use of our products will afford us the platform we need to scale adoption in the U.S. and OUS markets," said Donnelly.

HydroCision's SpineJet system has been widely accepted by spine surgeons as breakthrough technology for decompression and fusion procedures. Until SpineJet, spine surgeons were primarily relying on manual instrumentation to perform delicate procedures through increasingly smaller incisions. "The HydroSurgery® approach made possible by HydroCision's technology provides spine surgeons with an efficient new tool," said Mitchell Hardenbrook, M.D., an orthopedic surgeon at the Boston Spine Group in Boston, Mass. "SpineJet has empowered us to perform truly minimally invasive fusion procedures that lead to improved clinical outcomes and faster patient recovery."

About HydroCision

HydroCision (http://www.hydrocision.com) is the leading developer, manufacturer, and marketer of fluidjet-based surgical tools for minimally invasive spine surgery. HydroCision's proprietary Fluidjet technology is the basis of a new surgical modality, "HydroSurgery®," which has the power density of laser and radiofrequency technologies, but does not cause thermal tissue damage. HydroCision's signature product is the SpineJet HydroSurgery System. Since its introduction in 2005, the SpineJet system has been used in more than 45,000 spinal, arthroscopic and wound debridement procedures.

SOURCE HydroCision Inc.