Cardiovascular Device Update articles from October 2002

Cardiovascular Device Update archives from October 2002

New technologies expand heart therapy markets in Europe.
October 1, 2002... BERLIN, Germany -- The 2002 Congress of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC; Sophia Antipolis, France), attended by more than 20,000 physicians, researchers and exhibitors, provided a venue for discussion of the latest developments in...

Gene therapy converts bit of heart's muscle to site that keeps beat. (From the Lab).
October 1, 2002... Cardiologists in the U.S. put in close to 300,000 electronic pacemakers annually. And the 10-year expense for a patient with a pacemaker, including annual checkups and battery changes, may average $30,000 to $40,000. Those facts of cardiac...

Biotronik trials study distance monitoring. (Report from Europe).(of its combined home cardio-surveillance system)
October 1, 2002... Biotronik (Berlin, Germany) earlier this year initiated the first trials of its combined home cardio-surveillance system, which enables the cardiologist to continue to monitor at distance the performance of patients with implanted pacemakers or...

Micro Therapeutics (MTI; Irvine, California).
October 1, 2002... * In what it said was a move to establish a leadership position in the interventional neurology marketplace, Micro Therapeutics (MTI; Irvine, California), a developer of minimally invasive medical devices for the diagnosis and treatment of...

St. Jude Medical (St. Paul, Minnesota) has signed a stock purchase agreement to acquire Getz Bros. Co. Ltd. (Tokyo), the largest distributor of St. Jude's products in Japan. (Acquisitions).(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... * St. Jude Medical (St. Paul, Minnesota) has signed a stock purchase agreement to acquire Getz Bros. Co. Ltd. (Tokyo), the largest distributor of St. Jude's products in Japan. The agreement calls for St. Jude to pay $220 million in cash to...

Medtronic payment to end BSX dispute. (Business Developments).(Boston Scientific)
October 1, 2002... In an agreement reached in mid-September, Medtronic (Minneapolis, Minnesota) decided to cut further legal expenses in its battle with Boston Scientific (BSX; Natick, Massachusetts) over rapid-exchange stent delivery systems and related...

Membership-based health care group purchasing organization AmeriNet (St. Louis, Missouri) has signed a contract with Camtronics Medical Systems (Hartland, Wisconsin), a subsidiary of Analogic (Peabody, Massachusetts), for Camtronics' Vericis for Cardiology Image and Information Management System. (Agreements).(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... * Membership-based health care group purchasing organization AmeriNet (St. Louis, Missouri) has signed a contract with Camtronics Medical Systems (Hartland, Wisconsin), a subsidiary of Analogic (Peabody, Massachusetts), for Camtronics' Vericis...

AST Products (AST; Billerica, Massachusetts), a developer of water-based coatings for medical devices, has completed a licensing agreement with Occam International BV. (Agreements).(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... AST Products (AST; Billerica, Massachusetts), a developer of water-based coatings for medical devices, has completed a licensing agreement with Occam International BV. The agreement is a worldwide non-exclusive licensing for AST's LubriLAST...

Basis Technology (Cambridge, Massachusetts), a provider of products and services for software globalization and multi-lingual information processing, has completed an internationalization project with Heartlab (Westerly, Rhode Island), a developer of cardiac image management software. (Agreements).(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... * Basis Technology (Cambridge, Massachusetts), a provider of products and services for software globalization and multi-lingual information processing, has completed an internationalization project with Heartlab (Westerly, Rhode Island), a...

EP MedSystems (EPMD; West Berlin, New Jersey) has received the first of a series of equity investments from Boston Scientific (Natick, Massachusetts). (Agreements).(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... * EP MedSystems (EPMD; West Berlin, New Jersey) has received the first of a series of equity investments from Boston Scientific (Natick, Massachusetts). The companies also have agreed to collaborate in a strategic joint-development project in...

Novare Surgical Systems (Cupertino, California) and CoroNeo (Montreal, Quebec) have entered into a distribution agreement, in which Novare will be the exclusive distributor in the U.S. of CoroNeo's family of reusable surgical instruments for cardiac procedures. (Agreements).(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... * Novare Surgical Systems (Cupertino, California) and CoroNeo (Montreal, Quebec) have entered into a distribution agreement, in which Novare will be the exclusive distributor in the U.S. of CoroNeo's family of reusable surgical instruments for...

Terumo Cardiovascular Systems (Terumo CVS; Ann Arbor, Michigan) and Pall Medical (East Hills, New York) signed a distribution agreement appointing Terumo CVS the exclusive distributor for Pall cardiovascular products in North, Central, and South America and in Europe. (Agreements).(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... * Terumo Cardiovascular Systems (Terumo CVS; Ann Arbor, Michigan) and Pall Medical (East Hills, New York) signed a distribution agreement appointing Terumo CVS the exclusive distributor for Pall cardiovascular products in North, Central, and...

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has agreed to purchase additional automated external defibrillators (AEDs) from Cardiac Science (Irvine, California). (Agreements).(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... * The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has agreed to purchase additional automated external defibrillators (AEDs) from Cardiac Science (Irvine, California). The VA ordered 226 of Cardiac Science's Powerheart defibrillators for hospitals...

New guidelines may drive uptake in ICDs. (Market Updates).(implantable cardioverter defibrillators)
October 1, 2002... A joint committee of the American College of Cardiology (ACC; Bethesda, Maryland), the American Heart Association (AHA; Dallas, Texas) and the North American Society of Pacing and Electrophysiology (NASPE; Natick, Massachusetts) last month...

Atherotech. (Personnel File).(appoints Michael Peat)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... * Michael Peat, PhD, has been named vice president of operations of Atherotech (Birmingham, Alabama). Previously, Peat was president of the Substance Abuse Testing Division at LabOne. Atherotech is a cardiodiagnostic company and specialty...

EP Medsystems. (Personnel File).(appoints Reinhard Schmidt)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... * Reinhard Schmidt has been promoted to chief executive officer of EP Medsystems (West Berlin, New Jersey), a post previously held by company founder David Jenkins, who will remain as chairman of the board. Schmidt joined the company last year...

Matria Healthcare. (Personnel File).(appoints Stephen Mengert)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... * Stephen Mengert has been named vice president-finance, and chief financial officer for Matria Healthcare (Marietta, Georgia). Mengert most recently was chief financial officer for client companies of Tatum CFO Partners. Mengert replaces...

MedicalCV. (Personnel File).(appoints Steven Phillips)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... * Steven Phillips, MD, has been appointed senior vice president of medicine and new technology for MedicalCV (Minneapolis, Minnesota). Phillips, board-certified in general and thoracic surgery, previously served as the assistant director of...

MicroMed Technology. (Personnel File).(appoints Betty Silverstein Russell and Edward Teitel)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... Betty Silverstein Russell has been named executive vice president of marketing and sales for MicroMed Technology (Houston, Texas), and Edward Teitel, MD, JD, has been named chief medical officer of the company. Most recently Russell was...

Micro Therapeutics. (Personnel File).(appoints Thomas Wilder, III)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... * Thomas Wilder III has been named president and chief executive officer of Micro Therapeutics (Irvine, California). Wilder previously was vice president and general manager of the endovascular stent grafts division of Medtronic. Micro...

Thoratec. (Personnel File).(appoints Jon Shear)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... * Jon Shear has been named to the new position of vice president, business development, at Thoratec (Pleasanton, California). Most recently, Shear was a senior member of the business and technology development unit of St. Jude Medical. Thoratec...

Biotronik. (Dual-chamber ICD for AF wins approval).(dual-chamber implantable cardioverter defibrillator for the treatment of atrial fibrillation)
October 1, 2002... Biotronik (Berlin, Germany) last month became the second company to receive FDA approval for a dual-chamber implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) device for the treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF). Its Tachos DR-Atrial Tx ICD received...

Ark Therapeutics. .(begins EG010 cardiovascular disease test kit trials)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... * Ark Therapeutics (London) began clinical trials of EG010, a point-of-care test kit for cardiovascular disease. The kit measures oxidized-low density lipoproteins (Ox-LDL), which are found in the fatty plaques that line the walls of the...

Bioheart. .(to begin enrollment for MyoCell Phase I study)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... * Bioheart (Weston, Florida) received FDA authorization to enroll 15 patients in a Phase I study adjunct to bypass of its investigational product, MyoCell, for heart muscle regeneration. In May, one-year results from the first MyoCell-treated...

Boston Scientific. .(receives premarket approval for its Express2 stent system)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... * Boston Scientific (Natick, Massachusetts) received FDA premarket approval for its Express2 coronary stent system. The company said it planned to launch the product immediately. The Express2 coronary stent system, launched in Europe in May and...

Cardima. .(submits premarket application for its Revelation Tx linear ablation catheter )(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... * Cardima (Fremont, California) submitted to the FDA a premarket approval application to market its Revelation Tx linear ablation catheter to treat paroxysmal AF. The application is the final in the module PMA process, presenting the results of...

CardioNow. .(releases WebSend software application)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... * CardioNow (Encinitas, California) released its WebSend software application that enables electronic sharing of complete cardiac studies with remote sites worldwide. WebSend complements CardioNow's Internet-based DICOM Image and Information...

Carmeda.(reports on benefits of its BioActive Surface for central venous catheters)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... * Carmeda (San Antonio, Texas) reported publication in the June issue of Comparative Medicine of a paper describing benefits of its BioActive Surface applied to central venous catheters in a controlled study in rats comparing coated to uncoated...

Cook. .(receives approval for its V-Flex Plus PTX Coronary Stent System)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... * Cook (Bloomington, Indiana) received CE mark approval for its V-Flex Plus PTX Coronary Stent System, a drug-eluting stent, just days after receiving CE mark clearance to sell its Achieve Drug Eluting Stent System in Europe. Cook said it will...

Edwards Lifesciences.(receives approval for the Carpentier-Edwards Perimount Magna bioprosthesis, and the Edwards MC3 Tricuspid Annuloplasty System)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... * Edwards Lifesciences (Irvine, California) received CE mark approval for a pair of heart valve therapy products, the Carpentier-Edwards Perimount Magna bioprosthesis, and the Edwards MC3 Tricuspid Annuloplasty System. Edwards called the...

Geron. .(publishes human embryonic stem cell data)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... * Geron (Menlo Park, California) published in last month's issue of Circulation Research data describing the differentiation of cardiomyocytes from human embryonic stem cells. The studies show that functional, contractile cardiomyocytes can be...

Guidant. .(completes enrollment in an optical coherence tomography trial)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... * Guidant (Indianapolis, Indiana) completed enrollment in a company-supported optical coherence tomography (OCT) study that examined images of lesions in patients with coronary artery disease. Guidant said a newly established body of evidence...

Heartlab. .(Encompass Review Station software )(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... * Heartlab (Westerly, Rhode Island) said it completed an internationalization project for software globalization and multi-lingual information processing. Heartlab internationalized its Encompass Review Station software in preparation for its...

Innercool.(begins trial of Celsius Control System for the treatment of heart attack)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... * Innercool (San Diego, California) began a pivotal clinical trial for use of its Celsius Control system in the treatment of acute myocardial infarction. The Celsius Control System involves threading an endovascular catheter, via the femoral...

IntraLuminal Therapeutics. .(introduces Safe-Steer system )(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... * IntraLuminal Therapeutics (Carlsbad, California) released at last month's Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics meeting in Washington its first-generation Safe-Steer system. The company called the device the first total occlusion product...

Ischemia Technologies. .(receives marketing approval in Canada for its Albumin Cobalt Binding test)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... * Ischemia Technologies (Denver, Colorado) received Canadian marketing approval for its Albumin Cobalt Binding test, used to detect acute cardiac conditions in patients with chest pain. The test is available in Europe, with U.S. regulatory...

Life Medical Sciences. .(Repel-CV bioresorbable adhesion barrier )(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... * Life Medical Sciences (Oceanport, New Jersey) completed patient enrollment for the feasibility clinical trial of its Repel-CV bioresorbable adhesion barrier designed to reduce the formation of adhesions on the surface of the heart after...

Magna-Lab. .(receives patent for Illuminator Probe magnetic resonance imaging receiving coil )(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... * Magna-Lab (Lynnfield, Massachusetts) received U.S. patent No. 6,437,569 with 33 claims for its Illuminator Probe, a non-invasive, expandable magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) receiving coil to advance the definitive diagnosis of coronary...

Novavax. .(recombinant human E-selectin protein inhibits stroke development)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... * Novavax (Columbia, Maryland) said a report in the Sept. 5, 2002, issue of Stroke demonstrated that nasal administration of recombinant human E-selectin protein inhibited the development of ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes in spontaneously...

PharmaNetics. .(EvaLuating Enoxaparin Clotting Times study completes enrollment)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... * PharmaNetics (Raleigh, North Carolina) completed the target enrollment of 600 patients in its ELECT (EvaLuating Enoxaparin Clotting Times) study. The company said it expects to report results at the American Heart Association's (Dallas,...

Somanetics. .(receives patent for CorRestore System)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... * Somanetics (Troy, Michigan) received a patent, including 29 claims, related to its CorRestore System, used in cardiac repair and reconstruction, including surgical ventricular restoration (SVR). During SVR with CorRestore, a surgeon implants...

Texas Biotechnology. .(Argatroban and t-PA in combination to treat acute ischemic stroke)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... * Texas Biotechnology (Houston, Texas) said Argatroban would be evaluated in combination with t-PA as a new approach to treat acute ischemic stroke, at the University of Texas Medical School (also Houston), as part of a program funded by the...

Vascular Architects.(reports results of clinical trials evaluating aspire covered stent)
October 1, 2002... * Vascular Architects (San Jose, California) reported 12-month results of its combined U.S. and European clinical trials evaluating use of its aspire covered stent and Controlled Expansion delivery system to treat superficial femoral artery...

Venetec International.(StatLock Arterial Plus)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... * Venetec International (San Diego, California) released its StatLock Arterial Plus securement device, developed for safely and reliably anchoring intra-arterial lines. StatLock Arterial Plus replaces suture for catheter securement, a move...

WorldHeart. .(Medicare coverage of ventricular assist devices )(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... * WorldHeart (Ottawa, Ontario) said that in response to a request by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), it forwarded data for consideration in the CMS review of CIM 65-15. CMS is considering expanding Medicare coverage to...

X Technologies. .(FX miniRAIL RX PCI Catheter)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... * X Technologies (Tustin, California) filed with the FDA the third and final module of its premarket approval application for its FX miniRAIL RX PCI Catheter. The module contains the results from a 263-patient, multicenter trial designed to...