Kentucky, Virginia LapBand centers install Crospon's EndoFLIP system

Crospon, an Irish medical device developer based in Galway, has announced that its EndoFLIP system is now being used in two leading LapBand centers in Kentucky and Virginia.

The Kentucky installation at the Norton Suburban Hospital, Louisville is by Dr Jeff Allen of Norton Surgical Specialists. Dr Allen will also be conducting randomized controlled trials with the EndoFLIP system to evaluate its intra-operative use for LapBand adjustment.

In Richmond, Virginia Dr Matt Bregman and Dr Greg Schroder of Dominion Surgical Associates have installed the first EndoFLIP system in the State at Bon Secours St Mary's Hospital. They will be conducting further studies to evaluate the use of EndoFLIP to manage patients who have not achieved optimal weight loss on the band.

Commenting on the uptake of the EndoFLIP system, Larry Fulton, VP Sales for the Americas, Crospon said, "We are grateful to have the opportunity to work with such thought leaders in LapBand surgery, building on the previous intra-operative study presented by Dr. Robert Snow at the 15^th Annual Congress of the International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity and Metabolic Disorders. The Virginia Study will be the first on the use of EndoFLIP for LapBand adjustments outside of surgery."

Crospon develops leading edge minimally invasive medical devices for monitoring, diagnosis and therapy in the gastroenterology area. During 2010 Crospon launched its EndoFLIP^® product in the U.S. market at the 12th World Congress of Endoscopic Surgery in National Harbor, Washington DC. The EndoFLIP^® product which received FDA clearance in December 2009 is the first product of its kind, which allows a bariatric surgeon to measure and set a consistent gastric band stoma size during surgery.

At the start of 2011, the Company announced it has received clearance from the US Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) to market a new imaging catheter for the measurement of sleeves created during bariatric surgery. The catheter which will be launched at the SAGES 2011 Conference in San Antonio in March is the latest development to the Company's EndoFLIP^® range and is designed to assist surgeons during sleeve gastrectomy and gastric imbrication procedures.