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Four analysts examine the Medical Technology sector in this 22 - page Special Report on Medical Technology from The Wall Street Transcript available at (212/952-7433) or www.twst.com

TWST: Could you define your coverage universe for us?

Mr. Landy: Currently we cover companies that participate in the cardiovascular and neurovascular arena. In the cardiovascular space we cover Medtronic (MDT), Guidant (GDT), Boston Scientific (BSX), and St. Jude Medical (STJ) on the large cap side, Edwards Lifesciences (EW) on the mid-cap side, and Wilson Greatbatch (GB), and Novoste (NOVT) on the small cap side. Neuromodulation therapy, which includes implantable drug delivery systems and neurostimulatory devices to treat diseases such as intractable pain, epilepsy, incontinence, essential tremor and Parkinson’s disease, is our main area of focus in the neurovascular arena. Here our coverage universe consists of two small cap companies Advanced Neuromodulation Systems (Nasdaq:ANSI) and Cyberonics (CYBX), as well as micro-cap Micro Therapeutics (MTIX). We also cover Conceptus (CPTS), a pure play in women’s health.

TWST: What are the big themes and issues that are coming up with investors that relate to the areas of cardiology and neuromodulation — either separately or the issues that they have in common?

Mr. Landy: I think that the two groups are currently on opposite ends of the scale. Cardiology is well covered and well understood whereas neuromodulation is under-covered and less well understood. Hence the questions we get in cardiology focus predominantly on the macro environment, whereas those in neuromodulation mostly focus on the micro environment. In cardiology, the dominant themes are ICDs and drug-eluting stents. In drug-eluting stents, most of the questions I field cover FDA approval timelines, pricing, and utilization, given the proposed reimbursement guideline. On the ICD side, investors have two major concerns: how sustainable is the current ICD growth rate, and how will the proposed cut in reimbursement for outpatient ICD implantation affect the ICD market going forward.

TWST: Can we go through some of the specific companies you cover and your investment recommendation on them? Start with the neuromodulation first, since it’s perhaps a less well-known group than the cardiology group.

Mr. Landy: There are not very many pure play neuromodulation companies that publicly trade in the US. We cover two of them. The first is outperform-rated Advanced Neuromodulation Systems. The other is Cyberonics, which we also rate as outperform. Both companies manufacture pacemaker-like devices used to either down-regulate or up-regulate the conduction of nerve impulses to the brain. Advanced Neuromodulation Systems currently has two approved products in the United States, one external and one fully implantable. Both are approved for the treatment of intractable pain, that is pain that does not respond to drug therapy. ANSI’s implantable offering, the Genesis, was launched in January 2002 and to date has performed ahead of expectations. While we concede that ANSI carries a nosebleed valuation on an EPS basis (47times 2003), which in today’s market is not what investors are particularly fond of, we believe that the Genesis rollout will continue to perform ahead of expectations and that the growth prospects for ANSI are good. Historically the performance of early stage medical device stocks have directly correlated to how well the rollout of their lead product is going and as there appears to be plenty of low-hanging fruit that ANSI has not yet gotten to, we continue to believe that the Genesis rollout will continue to outperform and therefore believe that ANSI has a number of good quarters ahead of it.

1. Healthcare Diagnostic Services - In an in-depth (3,100 words) Analyst interview, Brian F. Kowalchyk, an Analyst at SWS Securities, examines the outlook for the sector and shares specific stock recommendations.

2. Cardiology & Neuromodulation - In an in-depth (2,600 words) Analyst interview, Mark Landy, a Vice President & Senior Research Analyst at Leerink Swann & Company, examines the outlook for the sector and shares specific stock recommendations.

3. Healthcare Technology Companies - In an in-depth (4,100 words) Analyst interview, Ronald Opel, a Senior Investment Research Analyst at H. C. Wainwright & Co., Inc., examines the outlook for the sector and shares specific stock recommendations.

4. Cardiology, Ophthalmology & Respiratory Techniques - In an in-depth (1,800 words) Analyst interview, Joanne Wuensch, a Research Analyst at Gerard, Klauer, Mattison & Co., Inc., examines the outlook for the sector and shares specific stock recommendations.