MAKO Surgical Corp. Launches Lateral Unicompartmental Knee Resurfacing Application on Its RIO(R) Robotic Arm

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla., Dec 2, 2009 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX News Network) -- MAKO Surgical Corp. (Nasdaq:MAKO), a medical device company focused on marketing its advanced robotic-arm solution and its implants for minimally invasive orthopedic knee procedures known as MAKOplasty(R), today announced the commercial availability of the Lateral Unicompartmental Knee Resurfacing Application for its RIO(R) Robotic Arm Interactive Orthopedic System. The new application complements MAKO's existing unicompartmental and bicompartmental knee applications targeting the medial and patellofemoral compartments.

"We believe the advanced proprietary features of our RIO(R) Robotic Arm System and the RESTORIS(R) MCK bicompartmental knee implant system provide the potential to address a larger population of patients suffering from limited osteoarthritis in the knee," said Dr. Maurice R. Ferre, President and CEO of MAKO. "Providing this lateral capability represents the achievement of another milestone towards the continuing commercialization of innovative technology that restores patient quality of life."

Dr. Gary Poehling, a MAKOplasty(R) surgeon at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, NC, said, "The availability of the lateral knee application is another great advance in the MAKO product offering. I am now able to utilize MAKOplasty(R) to treat patients with single compartment knee osteoarthritis, regardless if it is medial, lateral or patellofemoral."

"MAKO has again taken a difficult, heavily instrumented procedure and made it much simpler to perform with accurate and reproducible results," stated Dr. John Velyvis, a MAKOplasty(R) surgeon at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, CA. "The lateral application is a promising addition, especially in the minimally invasive treatment of women, who are more prone to this deformity."