Edison Best New Product Awards: SonoSite’s NanoMaxx ultrasound system chosen as finalist

SonoSite, Inc. (Nasdaq:SONO), the world leader and specialist in hand-carried ultrasound for the point-of-care, announced today that the 6 lb. NanoMaxx™ ultrasound system was selected as a finalist for the prestigious Edison Best New Product Awards. The awards are inspired by the enormous contributions of renowned inventor Thomas Edison and honor significant achievements in new product development, marketing, and innovation.

“Innovation is more important now than ever”

SonoSite’s NanoMaxx system is an extremely portable, high-resolution imaging tool that provides point-of-care visualization to a variety of medical specialties. Empowering physicians to meet the highest standard of patient care, the NanoMaxx system targets applications that will improve patient safety and minimize complications. With one-dial control, advanced proprietary imaging algorithms, a 20 second boot-up time, and a rugged form factor (successfully drop-tested from three feet), the NanoMaxx system is a breakthrough technology that truly meets an unmet clinical need.

The Edison Award finalists were selected by a rigorous peer-reviewed voting system, which comprised of an estimated 2,000 members of not-for-profit Marketing Executives Network Group (MENG), America’s top executives, and academic researchers. The NanoMaxx system was judged on six main categories that were inspired by the persistence and excellence personified by Mr. Edison’s achievements—marketplace innovation, marketplace success, technological innovation, market structure innovation, societal impact, and design innovation.

“Innovation is more important now than ever,” said Sarah Miller Calidicott, great grandniece of Thomas Edison and chair of the Edison Awards Steering Committee. “The finalists we announced are the moving parts in the engine of economic growth. They inspire people to think outside the box and improve the lives of people around the world.”

The 2010 Edison Awards are sponsored by the Discovery Channel, Google, The Nielsen Company, and Strategyn, and are associated with The Thomas Edison Papers at Rutgers University, the State University of New Jersey.