The notion of highly-articulating robots informs virtually every futuristic vision of our health care system. But actual adoption has taken a long time, as skeptics point to surgeon resistance and concerns about costs. Still, Intuitive Surgical has been impressing everyone with its success in placing its daVinci robotics system and has even won over that most-demanding of constituents: public investors.

Vivant Medical Inc. has developed minimally invasive microwave ablation technology for solid tumors. Vivant believes that its technology---which includes a novel ring-shaped probe--will be faster, safer and more effective than radiofrequency ablation.

Atrial fibrillation (AF), once thought of as a benign condition affecting a relatively small patient population, has recently been found to be a major contributor to stroke and congestive heart failure (CHF), and is expected to afflict a much larger patient pool, particularly as the population ages, making AF one of the largest unmet cardiovascular clinical opportunities. The only current cure for AF is a traumatic, rarely performed surgical procedure. Palliative treatments are limited to drug regimens that are often ineffective and can produce serious side effects; or electrophysiology and cardiac rhythm management procedures that are only used for a relatively small number of patients. The size of the AF patient market and the recent discovery that AF is a precursor to stroke and CHF have elevated the condition in importance to product companies, making it one of the most competitive areas for the next generation of cardiovascular devices, and attracting interest from all the major cardiology companies, as well as many start-ups. AtriCure is developing novel technology that for the first time enables surgeons to ensure they are producing lesions that are transmural, meaning they completely penetrate the cardiac tissue. Transmural lesions have been shown to provide the only effective means of curing AF. The company's first-mover advantage puts it ahead of the pack, at least for now. AtriCure's challenge is to expand the application of its technology to avoid being marginalized when the inevitable rush of big and small players enter the market.

{In Vivo} summarizes the technologies of several medical companies founded recently, including Belgium's [AlgoNomics NV], a new entrant in the biocomputing and bioinformatics arena. [CoPharma Inc.]'s mission is to develop drug and biological products through joint ventures with discovery firms. Launched in February 2000 with $2 million from Sanderling, Alta Partners and Graystone, [Cythera Inc.] will develop therapies based on the transplantation of functional human cells grown{ in vitro}, offering an alternative to the use of donated human tissues. [Embolic Protection Inc.] has developed a device, consisting of a guide wire and filter mechanism, to remove embolic debris. Denmark's [NsGene A/S] is a joint venture of NeuroSearch A/S and the University of Lund. [WebEBM] will offer evidence-based clinical guidelines for 400 diseases or conditions on its website.