EXHIBIT 99.1


              ATS MEDICAL COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF 3F THERAPEUTICS
                ACQUISITION MARKS ENTRY INTO TISSUE VALVE MARKET

MINNEAPOLIS, Oct. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ATS Medical, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATSI)
-- today announced the completion of its acquisition of 3F Therapeutics, a
privately-held company focused on developing and commercializing its
fundamentally unique tissue heart valve products.


(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040202/ATSILOGO )


"We are pleased to announce the successful completion of the acquisition of 3F
Therapeutics," said Michael Dale, Chairman, President and CEO of ATS Medical.
"We believe we are now well positioned to enter the tissue heart valve market
with products that are differentiated from those that are currently available
and that will offer outstanding benefits to surgeons and their patients."


About ATS Medical


ATS Medical, Inc. manufactures and markets products and services focused on
cardiac surgery. The company, global in scope, has been headquartered in
Minneapolis since its founding in 1991. More than 130,000 ATS Open Pivot(R)
Heart Valves, which utilize a unique pivot design resulting in exceptional
performance and low risk profile, have been implanted in patients worldwide. ATS
Medical's focus on serving the cardiac surgery community is further strengthened
by offerings that include ATS Simulus(TM) annuloplasty products for heart valve
repair, SurgiFrost(R) and FrostByte(TM) products for surgical cryoablation of
cardiac arrhythmias, RTI-Cardiovascular for allograft tissue services, QAS home
monitoring services for anticoagulation therapy and the development of PARSUS
blood filtration technology. The ATS Medical web site is
http://www.atsmedical.com .


About 3F Therapeutics


3F Therapeutics was founded in 1998 with a focus similar to that of ATS Medical,
on serving the needs of the cardiac surgeon. 3F Therapeutics' fundamentally
unique heart valve product design concepts are intended to improve on the
performance of existing heart valves by mimicking natural valves. With the
belief that there is not a single solution for each heart valve implant, 3F
Therapeutics has worked toward offering cardiac surgeons several biological
tissue heart valve options from which to choose. Its first product, the 3F
Aortic Bioprosthesis(TM), has been commercially released in Europe and the U.S.
FDA submission process is underway. 3F Therapeutics was acquired by ATS Medical
on September 29, 2006.


SOURCE ATS Medical, Inc.
10/02/2006


CONTACT: Michael Dale, President and CEO of ATS Medical, Inc., +1-763-553-7736;
or Investors, Jennifer Beugelmans, +1-646-277-8704, or Doug Sherk,
+1-415-896-6820, or Media, Steve DiMattia, +1-646-277-8706, all for ATS Medical,
Inc.

2691 10/02/2006 08:25 EDT http://www.prnewswire.com