【正文】 ? Ease of use – Easier user interface and simpler approach: color display for immediate prehension of the operative situation. CATS is easy to setup, not so easy to use – Help on line always present to help user during alarm situations or normal run phases:a manual always open on the right page, an invaluable aid for the customer during alarm situations or normal run phases. In CATS only in setup. ? Performances – higher wash quality due to Latham bowl versus Belt system (that only concentrates without really removing harmful ponents, except fat) – Electa is fast when it is needed, adjustable manually also in Automatic mode (1000 ml/min max pump flow). CATS can not be used in emergencies: automatically regulated processing speed is not fast enough in the CATS when big quantities must be treated in short times since it can not be strongly adjusted manually – No priming needed in Electa (only if using Hct detector), can be easily skipped in emergencies. For the CATS system it is always necessary to fill the belt with saline solution (some minutes) – A certain amount of concentrated RBC necessary to begin the procedure (approx. 30 ml RBC = 300 ml blood at 10%Hct). 30 ml RBC must be kept in the belt till the end of the procedure – CATS reaches normally a higher Hct (usually 60%): sometimes such concentrated blood must be diluted with saline solution to be reinfused (no clinical advantage, dilution is time consuming and there is a high risk to loose sterility) Electa Sales Information 21 Product Comparison How to sell against CATS Electa positive points vs CATS ? Automation – Wider functioning modes range with possibility to adjust flows in all phases according to specific needs. – Fast processing when needed (emergencies) thanks to high pump speed (1000 ml/min max in all phases vs automatically adjusted, max 350 ml/min in prime, 400 m/min in wash and 190 in empty) – Autostart function – 24 ATS programs (vs 7 in the CATS), 24 SEQ programs (vs 1 in the CATS) ? PRP – Higher pump flow control during SEQ procedures (10100 ml/min, 10 ml/min step vs 45105 ml/min) – Much more plicate manual procedure, due to the clamps a adjustments in the belt system – Not efficient PRP collection due to the belt system geometry ? Blood quality monitoring – Hct IN sensor monitoring ‘’ON LINE’’, continuously, the blood entering inside the bowl vs non inlet indication in the CATS. This information allows to control step by step the concentration phase – Hct OUT indication referred to each bowl continuously displayed during empty phase and medium indications available on the reports. No Hct out indication in the CATS. – Wash quality indication allowing to monitor step by step both the washing efficiency in terms of % removal of harmful ponents (FPH, anticoagulant, plasmatic proteins etc.. ) and the transparency of the line to the waste bag. No similar indication available in the CATS Electa Sales Information 22 Product Comparison How to sell against CATS Electa positive points vs CATS ? Transportability – Integrated vacuum pump vs external vacuum regulator – Small dimensions and low weight to increase transportability and facilitate installation/demonstrations (very important outside the cardiac surgery, in particular in orthopedics). CATS is heavy and big equipment, offering much less manoeuvrability inside and outside the . ? Procedures traceability – 6 procedures instead of 1 contemporarily stored in the internal memory. This allows to download data once per day and not at the end of each intervention. No data lost – Innovative smart card system and data management SW (Electa DBase) to store and elaborate data on PC. Graphic and statistical analysis, a real instrument for the user to monitor the ATS activity. – Different kinds of reports can be generated (general, detailed, alarms modifications) – Memorization and reporting of all the procedure data, also bowl details, modifications and alarm messages – Integrated needle printer vs external thermal printer. No cables outside, no external holder, permanent printing according to legal remendations. Electa Sales Information 23 Product Comparison ? Automation – No need of bowl sizes (higher flexibility). With 4 bowl sizes we can treat small amounts of blood (only 3035 ml RBC necessary to begin washing with a 55 ml bowl – Rapid transfer programs, but with Electa it is possible to reproduce this behaviour by programming to 0 the wash volume. – Cryowashing programs – Battery falls. It is not a real positive point since it only allows to displace without switching off the equipment. Centrifuge and pump can not work when CATS is on battery. ? Performances – Continuous flow should allow to increase processing speed since it allows to contemporarily prime, wash and reinfuse. In the reality the impossibility to manually increase flows (only a restricted modification range is possible) prevents from having fast processing when it is really needed, in emergencies. – higher Hct usually 60% thanks to the belt system and the CCD buffycoat detector even if sometimes this is not an advantage because: ? there is no clinical indication stating that 60% is better than 50%. Parameters to be measured are others like percentage removals and RBC functionality after centrifugation ? such concentrated blood must be diluted with saline solution to be reinfused (dilution is time consuming and there is a high risk to loose sterility) – Fat elimination mechanism. Fresenius is aggressive on this point even if: ? there are at present no clinical studies IN VIVO ? at present there is no clear demonstration of the negative effects the quantities typical in orthopedic surgery can be dangerous How to sell against CATS CATS positive points vs Electa Electa Sales Information 24