iVOW, Inc. develops and markets products and services for the bariatric clinical, medical and surgical markets. Bariatrics is the medical science of weight reduction and nutrition; bariatric surgery, a specialized area of general surgery, is focused on surgical weight reduction solutions for the very severely or morbidly obese. iVOW is focused on implementing disease management strategies for the control of chronic and severe obesity. The vision of the Company's iVOW business is to provide services that enable affiliated customers, healthcare providers and organizations in the ongoing evolution of the highest standards of treatment and services to optimize the quality of life for chronic and morbidly obese patients. In February 2005, after merging with its wholly owned subsidiary, VOW Solutions, Inc., the Company changed its name from Vista Medical Technologies, Inc. to iVOW, Inc. Since 2001, through its Laparoscopic Bariatric Surgical Preceptorship program, iVOW has assisted in the development, for others, of 60 bariatric surgical centers based in hospitals across the United States and provided consulting products to some additional 51 bariatric surgical centers (collectively, iVOW Surgical Centers). iVOW Surgical Centers provide surgical treatment, specifically open and minimally invasive roux en-y gastric bypass procedures and laparoscopic gastric banding, to morbidly obese patients. The products and services iVOW has supplied this customer base include: the Blueprint study, a customized feasibility analysis for bariatric program development; the Company's clinical training program, which provides surgical teams with a comprehensive introduction to the performance of minimally invasive gastric bypass surgery; implementation and consulting services, which facilitate the initiation and efficient operation of bariatric surgical programs; and marketing tools such as a radio commercials, which clients may customize for use in their local markets to inform prospective patients about the availability of gastric bypass surgery at their hospitals. The iVOW Center concept is designed to overcome the traditional barriers experienced by physicians and hospitals when attempting to put into operation new, or to maximize existing, niche product lines. The Company's approach will free physicians from nearly all administrative functions, allowing them to devote all their time and energy to patient care and the operating suite. Similarly, the iVOW Center will assist and/or provide the hospital with the expertise, personnel and core infrastructure needed to operate a fast track, successful, high-volume bariatric center. On November 1, 2005, iVOW acquired Sound Health Solutions, Inc. (SHS), a healthcare provider specializing in the multidisciplinary medical treatment of obesity. SHS has pioneered the development of multidisciplinary medically anchored weight loss programs since 1998. Through a pilot program with Microsoft Corporation, SHS has produced statistically significant data on multidisciplinary medically anchored weight loss programs in the United States. iVOW anticipates that the SHS acquisition will improve and expand its business model. Prior to the acquisition of SHS, the Company's business model focused principally upon working with hospitals and surgeons to provide consultations on a fee-for-service basis or to operate their bariatric surgical programs for a management fee, while the hospitals and surgeons held the contracts with insurance providers and other third-party payors and employers. Under that model, even if the volume of patients increased, the Company's revenue did not. In contrast, SHS, through its owner-operator model, contracts directly with employers, payors and unions to facilitate weight loss programs on a direct per patient basis, thus generating incremental revenue as patient volume increases. iVOW competes with BARIX, Specialty Health Services Management, Liv Lite Surgical Weight Loss Program and Centers for Obesity Related Illness.