Company recognized for inventive use of All Programmable FPGAs for 3D vision and precise control in minimally-invasive da Vinci Surgical System

LONDON, Sept. 25, 2012 — (PRNewswire) — Xilinx, Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX) is proud to announce that it was been presented with an Outstanding Achievement award at the Electronic Product Design e-Legacy Awards 2012 event in London earlier this month. Xilinx was recognized in the Medical Advances category for the inventive use of FPGAs in a robot-assisted, minimally invasive surgical application for 3D vision and precise control by longtime customer, Intuitive Surgical, in its popular da Vinci® Surgical System.

Now in its sixth year, the Electronic Product Design (EPD) e-Legacy awards celebrate and reward not only technological innovation, but the contribution that entrants make to preserve the environment and improve the communities where we live and work. The awards are voted by EPD magazine readers and therefore reflect the opinions of design engineers around the UK. The Outstanding Achievement award is an exceptional category chosen solely by EPD editor, Alistair Winning.

In use at more than 1,500 sites worldwide, the extreme precision of the da Vinci Surgical System speeds complex surgical procedures and improves the quality of patience experiences, while enabling faster recovery than traditional open surgical procedures. From a comfortable, seated position, the surgeon has an adjustable-zoom 3D view of the operating field, driven by high performance instrumentation that translates large motions into precise movements of surgical instruments attached to robotic arms.

"With 26 outstanding finalists in this year's e-Legacy, choosing one winner was an almost impossible task," said Winning at the awards ceremony. "In the end, I decided that Xilinx's entry on FPGA-guided robotic-assisted surgery, which was entered in the Medical Advances category, was fully in keeping with the spirit of the awards; to focus on innovation that promotes protection of the environment, sustaining natural resources, and improving quality of life."

Intuitive Surgical's inventive use of Xilinx® All Programmable FPGAs is highlighted in an Intuitive Surgical Case Study in the Customer Innovation section at xilinx.com and in an Xcell Journal magazine article titled, Xilinx FPGAs Guide Robotic-assisted Surgical System.

Accepting the award, Giles Peckham, European Marketing Director at Xilinx added, "Intuitive Surgical's da Vinci surgical system dramatically improves patient outcomes and satisfaction. We're delighted to see Xilinx FPGAs used in such a life-changing application. Intuitive Surgical has used Xilinx FPGAs since 2003 and now standardizes on Xilinx FPGA-based design blocks for robotic-assisted surgery. As a result, they have experienced the full benefits of Xilinx's All Programmable devices: accelerated design productivity, higher integration without loss of flexibility, increased system performance, reduced system power and reduced bill of material costs through successive generations."

Intuitive Surgical fully exploits high performance video processing bandwidth in Xilinx FPGAs to enhance visualization and reduce eye strain in the da Vinci system. It also affords surgeons the benefit of dual-console configurations for collaborative surgery, simulations and teaching. Equally important, by implementing a modular platform design based on standard FPGA blocks the Intuitive Surgical design team improves da Vinci system reliability and serviceability. 

About Xilinx
Xilinx is the world's leading provider of All Programmable devices, SoCs and 3D ICs. These industry-leading devices are coupled with a next-generation design environment and IP to serve a broad range of customer needs, from programmable logic to programmable systems integration. For more information, visit www.xilinx.com.

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Xilinx, the Xilinx logo, Artix, ISE, Kintex, Spartan, Virtex, Zynq, Vivado and other designated brands included herein are trademarks of Xilinx in the United States and other countries. Intuitive® and da Vinci® are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intuitive Surgical, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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