The QlickSmart system protects surgical nurses from dangerous cuts while removing disposable scalpel blades. QlickSmart is the first-ever single-handed system for removing scalpel blades. For more information visit www.qlick-smart.com

Tucson, AZ -- May 19, 2006. To protect doctors and patients, the medical profession has been using sterile disposable scalpel blades for decades, but until now, surgical nurses have been unnecessarily exposed to dangerous cuts and contaminants while removing the blades from the scalpels.  With QlickSmart, the first-ever single-handed solution for blade removal, surgical nurses simply direct the blade into a mounted disposable cartridge with one hand, listen for the click, and then pull out the scalpel.  Before QlickSmart, blade removal was a two-handed procedure involving one hand on the scalpel and the other handling the contaminated blade.  All-too-often, dangerous cuts resulted from the procedure.

 "QlickSmart is about protecting nurses," offered Chris Jones, President of Quanta Technologies, who demonstrated Qlicksmart recently at the 51st annual congress of the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses in Washington DC.  "Several years ago, we offered a non-sterile QlickSmart system for use in veterinary and mortuary medicine, and now we are introducing an OSHA-approved sterile system for use in operating rooms."

The Qlicksmart sterile cartridge was originally developed several years ago by Doctor Neville Henry of Brisbane, Austrialia, and the biggest challenge was getting the product approved for surgical use and distribution in the United States.  The Qlicksmart system is manufactered by Qlicksmart Pty Ltd in Australia and distributed in the United States by Quanta Technologies.  Quanta expects that operating rooms around the the world will adopt the Qlicksmart system.

"The Qlicksmart system is safe, convenient and cost-effective," suggested Chris Jones.  "At less than thirty-five cents for each scalpel blade disposed, the costs are far less than the potential costs of exposure to cuts and contaminents." The U.S. consumes around 130 million scalpel blades each year.  Last year, there were approximately 600,000 to 800,000 scalpel and needle stick injuries in U.S. hospitals, which led to 1,400 HIV and Hepatitis infections.  Apart from the emotional and psychological trauma for the people injured, these injuries costs the US economy nearly a half billion dollars a year in terms of lost work hours, reporting procedures and potential litigation.

While some hospitals are moving toward use of safety scalpels, many surgeons are slow to accept the an entirely new breed of surgical instruments, saying that they don't feel like "real scalpels" -- they differ in terms of feel, weight and overall use.  After years of training and experience with existing tools, most surgeons continue to use conventional scalpels and scalpel blades, despite the risk of injury. The Qlicksmart system works with most conventional scalpels, which means nurses can avoid injury, hospitals can avoid liability, and that surgeons can continue to use conventional scalpels and scalpel blades without compromising their safety.

About Quanta Technologies
Quanta Technologies LLC was founded in 1994 as a distributor of medical laser technologies and a provider of laser service and is today the largest regional supplier of lasers to hospitals and surgery centers.  The company branched out in the late nineties providing a variety of medical laser equipment throughout the Southwestern US expanding laser service, laser accessory products and non-laser ancillary supplies throughout the United States.  Today, Quanta is developing and distributing laser fibers, smoke evacuation systems and accessories, as well as replacement specialty lamps and medical batteries to hospitals, surgery centers, and physician offices throughout the country.  Quanta Technologies is a privately held company headquartered in Tucson, Arizona. For more information, visit http://www.quantaweb.com/.