Luna Innovations (Nasdaq: LUNA) and Intuitive Surgical (Nasdaq: ISRG) Extend Relationship

Shawshank, VA 3/28/12 (StreetBeat) -- Luna Innovations Incorporated (NASDAQ: LUNA) announced today that it will be extending its development work through 2012 under its development and supply agreement withIntuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG), as they work towards the integration of Luna’s shape and position sensingtechnology into Intuitive’s medical robotic products.

This extension is to the multi-year development and supply agreement the companies entered into in June 2007, under which Luna would supply and license to Intuitive its fiber-optic based shape sensing and position tracking system for use in Intuitive’s products. Intuitive Surgical is the global technology leader in robotic-assisted minimally invasive surgery. Luna has made great leaps in advancing its shape sensing technology and will continue these efforts through 2012 as Luna and Intuitive aim towards commercialization.

"This new agreement with Intuitive Surgical enhances our relationship with the leader in the medical robotics market and reinforces Luna’s commitment to the development of our technology and its value toward the advancement of healthcare. Through this partnership, Luna and Intuitive strive to help surgeons more precisely guide and control surgical tools during robotically-assisted procedures,” stated My Chung, Luna’s Chief Executive Officer. “Our partnership with Intuitive has continued to advance and we look forward to completing our technology development and transitioning to product integration with Intuitive’s systems. The end goal is to assist surgeons with these very complex, minimally invasive surgeries and promote the best outcomes for patients.”

“We are pleased to continue our relationship with Luna, recognizing them as a strong technology partner in the area of advanced shape and position sensing systems,” said Dave Rosa, Intuitive’s Senior VP of Emerging Procedures and Technology. “Our collaboration with Luna has been very productive and we remain committed to further developments through our joint project.”

Luna’s exclusive shape sensing system tracks the position of an optical fiber along its entire length, providing real-time measurements that can assist surgeons in navigating through the body. This technology could be particularly helpful in certain minimally invasive surgical techniques because of the need to track the position of medical instruments in the patient, using optical fibers as thin as a human hair to provide sensing and feedback, as the nervous system does for the human body.

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Luna Innovations (Nasdaq: LUNA) Sets New Strategy for Future

Orlando, FL 12/15/11 (StreetBeat) – Luna Innovations Incorporated (NASDAQ: LUNA) has announced a new corporate strategy to grow revenue that focuses on serving high-growth industries with new technology solutions to measure, monitor, protect and improve critical processes in the medical, defense and composites industries.

The strategy, recently approved by the company’s Board of Directors, focuses on three key objectives:
1) Become the leading provider of sensing systems and standard test methods for composite materials by offering disruptive technology that revolutionizes the industry.
2) Continue to pioneer the way and be the leading supplier of fiber-optic shape sensing technology for robotic and minimally invasive surgical systems.
3) Be the leading choice for ensuring the integrity of integrated circuits used in defense systems.

“Over the past few months, our leadership team and board members have worked together to conduct a comprehensive analysis of our products, strengths, market position and market needs,” said My Chung, CEO of Luna Innovations. “We believe that our technologies, our people and our research and development, along with our partnerships in numerous industries, provide us with some very attractive opportunities.”

“Now, following a successful reorganization, we want to provide investors and other stakeholders with a roadmap to the future that emphasizes the compelling value proposition for markets we serve,” Chung added.

One example of a product implementing our strategy is the ODiSI (Optical Distributed Sensor Interrogator), Luna’s new sensing platform. It provides fully distributed strain or temperature measurements and delivers an unprecedented amount of data by using an optical fiber as a continuous sensor over up to 50 meters of surface. Compared to traditional sensing methods, such as strain gages, Luna's technology provides greater insight into the performance, tolerances and failure mechanisms of structures and vehicles. The company believes the technology will provide exceptional value to the fast-growing composites manufacturing market, particularly in aerospace and green energy applications.

Another growth opportunity is in the medical market. Luna currently maintains product development relationships with two leading players in robotic medical technology – Intuitive Surgical and Hansen Medical – and is working with both companies to support the development of high-speed shape sensing and localization of minimally invasive surgical devices using fiber-optic technology. The technology is helping to improve healthcare with advances in medical robotics and minimally invasive surgery.

“These are just a few examples of technology and markets where we’ve identified opportunities to increase revenues and market share,” Chung said. “Together with our continued emphasis on research and development and new focus on cultivating a high-performance team with the energy of a start-up company, we have mapped out a future direction that takes advantage of technology trends and high-growth industries to position Luna for what we expect will be a strong and promising future.”

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