Asensus Surgical Announces Franklin Medical Center to Initiate the Installation of the Senhance Surgical System

Franklin Medical Center to become 4th Senhance Hospital in Louisiana

Asensus Surgical, Inc. (NYSE American: ASXC), a medical device company that is digitizing the interface between the surgeon and the patient to pioneer a new era of Performance-Guided Surgery™, today announced the Franklin Medical Center in Winnsboro, Louisiana has entered into an agreement to lease and utilize a Senhance® Surgical System.

“We are excited to bring the Senhance system's unique capabilities to yet another innovative hospital in the United States,” said Anthony Fernando, Asensus Surgical President and CEO. “We are particularly enthusiastic to see hospitals in the United States leveraging the capabilities of the ISU™. With features such as precise real-time intraoperative measurements and digital tags, the ISU’s intraoperative intelligence sets Senhance apart from other current and future robotic systems.”

Asensus Surgical's technology platform, Senhance Surgical System, is the first of its kind digital laparoscopic platform that leverages augmented intelligence to provide unmatched performance and patient outcomes through machine learning. Senhance goes beyond the typical surgical robotic systems, providing surgical assurance through haptic feedback, eye-tracking camera control, and 3D visualization, and is the first platform to offer 3 mm instruments (the smallest instrument available in the world on a robotic surgical platform). The Senhance Surgical System is powered by the Intelligent Surgical Unit™ (ISU). The ISU enables machine vision-driven control of the camera for a surgeon by responding to commands and recognizing certain objects and locations in the surgical field, and allows a surgeon to change the visualized field of view using the movement of their instruments.

“Prior to our adoption of Senhance, we avoided adding a soft tissue robotics platform to our general surgery department because of a lack of meaningful benefits offered to our surgeons and patients by competing platforms. That has changed with Senhance and the platform’s innovative intelligent capabilities and laparoscopic foundation,” said Dr. David Gutierrez, Chief of General Surgery at Franklin Medical Center. “Senhance adds a new dynamic to soft tissue abdominal robotics, one that we believe will improve our surgical outcomes, reduce the burden of recovery placed upon our patients, and allows us to bring the highest quality of care to all those we serve.”

About Franklin Medical Center

Franklin Medical Center is an acute-care hospital in Winnsboro, Louisiana serving Franklin, Tensas, and Catahoula Parishes in Louisiana. Franklin Medical Center has been a part of Franklin Parish since 1970. The hospital has provided healthcare to this area of Louisiana for over 50 years.

About Asensus Surgical, Inc.

Asensus Surgical, Inc. is digitizing the interface between the surgeon and patient to pioneer a new era of Performance-Guided Surgery by unlocking clinical intelligence for surgeons to enable consistently superior outcomes and a new standard of surgery. This builds upon the foundation of Digital Laparoscopy with the Senhance Surgical System powered by the Intelligent Surgical Unit (ISU) to increase surgeon control and reduce surgical variability. With the addition of machine vision, augmented intelligence, and deep learning capabilities throughout the surgical experience, we intend to holistically address the current clinical, cognitive and economic shortcomings that drive surgical outcomes and value-based healthcare. Learn more about Performance-Guided Surgery and Digital Laparoscopy with the Senhance Surgical System here: www.senhance.com. Now available for sale in the US, EU, Japan, Russia, and select other countries. For a complete list of indications for use, visit: www.senhance.com/indications. For more information, visit www.asensus.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes statements relating to the Senhance Surgical System and Franklin Medical Center initiating a program with the Senhance System. These statements and other statements regarding our future plans and goals constitute "forward looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and are intended to qualify for the safe harbor from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that are often difficult to predict, are beyond our control and which may cause results to differ materially from expectations and include whether the Senhance Surgical System will improve surgical outcomes at Franklin Medical Center and reduce the burden of recovery upon Franklin Medical Center patients. For a discussion of the risks and uncertainties associated with the Company’s business, please review our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, filed with the SEC on March 11, 2021 and our other filings we make with the SEC. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward looking statements, which are based on our expectations as of the date of this press release and speak only as of the origination date of this press release. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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