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Diagnostic Ultrasound Corp changes name to Verathon Inc.

19 October 2006

Bothell, Wash., USA.  Diagnostic Ultrasound Corporation has updated its company name to Verathon Inc. to reflect additions to the company’s brands.

In January 2006 Diagnostic Ultrasound acquired a non-ultrasound business, Saturn Biomedical Systems and its innovative GlideScope video laryngoscope (GVL) brand. This move, combined with the success of the company’s BladderScan bladder volume instrument business, prompted the new name.

“The change from Diagnostic Ultrasound to Verathon represents a significant milestone for our company,” said Gerald McMorrow, CEO, Founder and Chairman of the Board. “We have grown from a small, single brand ultrasound company to a global organization with a broad portfolio of product brands that go beyond ultrasound. Although our company name is changing, our business remains based on a solid foundation of employee excellence in providing our customers with innovative and reliable medical instruments supported by quality customer service.”

The Verathon name is a unique fusion of two ideals that embody the company’s mission and beliefs. Veritas (from the Latin for “truth”) reflects the company’s commitment to being true to the needs of patients and health care professionals, and Marathon describes the company’s passion for enduring achievement over the long run. As Verathon, the company will continue to provide the health care community with pioneering and reliable medical instruments and services that offer a meaningful improvement in patient care.

A new Verathon logo and Web address, www.verathon.com, are among the many initiatives supporting the name change.

“At Verathon™, we are dedicated to putting health care providers first in their quest to help their patients,” said Jane Mueller, the company’s Vice President of Marketing. “Now, as always, we are committed to designing and manufacturing products that are reliable, in every sense of the word. And we’re devoted to providing state-of-the-art medical devices and services that offer a meaningful improvement in patient care to the health care community.”

Diagnostic Ultrasound Corporation, now Verathon Inc., was founded in 1984 by McMorrow, an electrical engineer and Vietnam veteran. The company’s flagship brand, BladderScan, has been adopted by the medical community as the standard of care in bladder volume measurement. Noninvasive, accurate and easy to use, BladderScan prevents unnecessary urinary catheterizations, reduces rates of urinary tract infection, and helps diagnose urological conditions such as enlarged prostate (BPH). The BladderScan is used in urology, acute care, primary care, and extended care.

The company’s strategy to expand into new markets and areas of medical technology led to the acquisition of Saturn Biomedical and the GlideScope brand. GlideScope video laryngoscopes provide a consistently clear view of the airway, enabling quick intubation. The GlideScope offers significant benefits to Anesthesiology, Critical Care and Emergency Medicine professionals.

“Joining Verathon has been a winning situation both for the team at Saturn Biomedical and for our customers,” said Dr. John Pacey, inventor of the GlideScope and President of Verathon Medical (Canada) ULC (formerly Saturn Biomedical Systems).

Consistent with McMorrow’s vision of smart, strategic expansion, this month Verathon is introducing the new GlideScope Ranger, a portable, compact and durable video laryngoscope designed specifically for military and emergency medicine. The company plans further additions to its product portfolio in the coming months.

Experiencing continued double-digit growth, Verathon was ranked among the fastest growing technology companies in Washington State in Deloitte’s prestigious “Technology Fast 50” program for both 2005 and 2006. And in June McMorrow won the Pacific Northwest Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Award for Health Services.

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