The symbol for the spin off will be SONO, it will begin trading around April 6. Name will be Handheld Ultrasound Systems (I think--going from memory). Some info on the spin off from ATLI:
ATL also announced today Board approval of a decision to spin-off its Handheld Systems Business Division as an
independent, public company as a tax free stock dividend to ATL shareholders. The spin-off will be effected by the distribution
of one share of the new company for every three shares of ATL. ATL plans to file the Form 10 related to the spin-off with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) within the next week. Pending SEC review, ATL anticipates the stock distribution
will occur in April 1998. ATL will take a one-time charge of less than $1.5 million in the first quarter for distribution-related
expenses.
ATL's handheld division is developing a family of highly portable, handheld ultrasound devices to be used as primary
examination tools for a variety of medical disciplines. The new company's FirstSight(TM) primary imaging technology is
being designed to increase the information gathered by physical examination, helping clinicians improve patient outcomes
and lower health care costs by bringing the immediacy and efficacy of ultrasound to the examining table, the bedside and the
field. Examination with FirstSight technology is planned to enable clinicians to identify earlier those patients requiring more
comprehensive diagnostic procedures or specialist intervention.
''We believe that in the next few years these handheld ultrasound devices could have the same impact on patient care as the
stethoscope and have the potential to create entirely new markets across many medical disciplines,'' Fill said. ''The method
of distribution, manufacturing volumes and the application of ultrasound as a primary medical device requires a
fundamentally different business approach than that of ATL, where we develop high performance, sophisticated systems for
use by medical specialists. It is recognition of this differential that led the ATL Board of Directors to decide that ATL and the
Handheld Division would each achieve greater success by focusing their resources on the development of leading edge
technology to serve their respective markets. We believe that ATL shareholder value will be enhanced by the creation of the
Handheld Division as an independent, public company dedicated to developing these primary imaging products.''
Kevin Goodwin, Vice President and General Manager of ATL's Handheld Systems Business Division, will become CEO and
President of the newly formed company. Prior to heading up the Handheld Division at ATL, Goodwin served as Vice
President and General Manager of ATL operations for Asia Pacific, Latin America and Canada. Under his leadership, ATL's
business expanded threefold in that region. Jens Quistgaard, Ph.D., currently Executive Director of Product Generation for
ATL's Handheld Systems Division, will serve as Vice President of Product Development and Delivery.
''We intend our products to be unique in the health care industry,'' Goodwin said. ''They are being designed to promote a
higher level of patient care by giving clinicians a direct visual image inside the body, increasing the diagnostic value of the
initial patient examination.''
The highly portable, hand carried ultrasound devices under development are a continuing evolution of ATL's ten years of
leadership in developing digital ultrasound technology. ATL introduced the first all-digital ultrasound system in 1988 and
today has the largest installed base of all digital systems, numbering over 9,000 systems. Now in its fifth generation of digital
ultrasound technology, while other companies are just introducing their first, ATL's success is based on its development of
proprietary ASIC technology (Application Specific Integrated Circuits) and advanced system software to increase the power
and resolution of ultrasound imaging while reducing its cost. Development of a handheld ultrasound unit will use ATL's
ASIC technology to dramatically reduce the size and cost of ultrasound to a device weighing less than five pounds and selling
for under $20,000. Through licensing agreements, ATL and the new company will continue to collaborate on technology
innovations that will be of benefit to both companies.
The first handheld device is being designed for the women's health care market. Other models will be developed for internal
and emergency medical applications. The first prototype is expected within the next few months, and commercial launch is
anticipated in 1999. The new company plans to submit a form 510(k) with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration within the
next month.
Additionally, the group is developing a prototype for military use on the battlefield or in other natural or man-made disaster
situations to diagnose victims of severe trauma. The U.S. Advanced Research Projects Agency selected an ATL-led
consortium of the University of Washington, VLSI Technology and Harris Semiconductor in February 1996 to receive a
two-year matching grant of $6.3 million for the handheld development project.
''Handheld ultrasound is a long held dream of many in the medical community,'' said James B. Seward, MD, Professor of
Medicine and Pediatrics and Director of the Echocardiography Laboratory, Mayo Clinic. ''Clinicians need a device that is small
enough and affordable enough to extend general examination capabilities right at the patient bedside. I believe that handheld
ultrasound could become as essential as the stethoscope in a few years.''
Steven R. Goldstein, MD, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, New York University Medical Center, who has worked with
ATL on evaluating prototype designs said, ''I have believed in this concept for ten years and am firmly convinced that some
day medical students are going to look at us and say, 'You used to feel without looking? How did you know what your
patients had?'''
''The important aspect of this new tool is that it would allow you to formulate a diagnosis and a plan of management in a
much more efficient time frame, a distinct benefit to the patient,'' explained Paul N. Fuller, MD, MPH, FACOG, Chair of the
Kaiser Permanente National Product Council. ''It has the potential to improve the quality of medicine, lower the overall cost
of providing care to that patient and improve your clinic's efficiency.''
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