BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) (NYSE:BDX), a global medical technology company that is a pioneer in safety-engineered products, today unveiled the BD™ Cataract Safety Knife System -- the first ever complete cataract safety knife system to encompass a safety-engineered handle with the blade for corneal incisions and a safety-engineered handle with the MVR-style blade for side port incisions. The introduction took place at the annual conference of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) in Washington, D.C.

The ground-breaking system includes both a phacoemulsification slit knife, which has several popular BD Xstar™ blade sizes designed for smooth penetration and accurate incision width, and an anterior chamber MVR knife with a BD EdgeAhead™ angled blade, which is designed to create precise, consistent and fluid tight 1.15 mm wide stab side-port incisions – the precise size for a 20-gauge instrument.

“In many cataract procedures, most surgeons use different blades for the corneal incision and for the side-port incision. The BD™ Cataract Safety Knife System directly addresses this ophthalmic safety issue, offering the first complete system that provides full sharps protection throughout the entire cataract procedure” explained Robert H. Osher, MD, Professor of Ophthalmology at the College of Medicine of the University of Cincinnati and the Medical Director Emeritus of the Cincinnati Eye Institute. The BD™ Safety Knife with BD Xstar™ Blade, which was introduced last year and includes a specially designed, integrated safety shield that protects the blade in procedure and handling – provided excellent sharps protection for the corneal incision. Yet the surgeon still had to switch to an MVR knife with no integrated safety shield to make a sideport incision.

“Cataract surgeries are among the most common procedures performed annually in the United States,” said Doug Lawrence, VP/General Manager, BD Medical – Ophthalmic Systems. The new BD™ Cataract Safety Knife System utilizes a proprietary patent pending safety shield that is easy to activate, yet locks securely to protect the blade - representing the next important step in the evolution of integrated retractable shield technology for safer ophthalmic surgeries.”

BD is a medical technology company that serves healthcare institutions, life science researchers, clinical laboratories, industry and the general public. BD manufactures and sells a broad range of medical supplies, devices, laboratory equipment and diagnostic products. For the fiscal year ended September 30, 2004, BD reported revenues of $4.935 billion.