Medical Device Week articles from December 2005

Medical Device Week archives from December 2005

Study says telemammography works, could increase access.
December 1, 2005... Radiological Society of North America Study says telemammography works, could increase access By KAREN YOUNG Medical Device Daily Staff Writer CHICAGO -- The lead author of a study on telemammography said he has used a system...

Laser ablation with MR seen as effective in liver cancer.
December 1, 2005... Radiological Society of North America Laser ablation with MR seen as effective in liver cancer By KAREN YOUNG Medical Device Daily Staff Writer CHICAGO -- A large-scale, 12-year study in Germany has demonstrated that laser...

Report from Europe.
December 1, 2005... Report from Europe Culture strategy promises unlimited cartilage supplies By SHARON KINGMAN Medical Device Daily Correspondent and Staff Reports For the first time, researchers have showed how to turn human embryonic stem...

Financings roundup.
December 1, 2005... Financings roundup Advanced BioHealing nets $8 million from 'B' placement A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Advanced BioHealing (ABH), a developer of wound-healing products that recently relocated its headquarters to New York,...

Deals roundup.
December 1, 2005... Deals roundup OMNI acquires Apex Surgical; HomeChoice buys ApotheCare A Medical Device Daily Staff Report OMNI life science (Vista, California) said it has completed its acquisition of Apex Surgical (Lakeville, Massachusetts), a...

Briefly Noted.
December 1, 2005... Briefly Noted Biomedical Diagnostics in pact with Harlan Genesis Bioventures (New York) said that its wholly owned subsidiary, Biomedical Diagnostics (Ann Arbor, Michigan), has signed a development agreement with Har-lan Bioproducts...

Court report.
December 1, 2005... Court report Rochester launches arbitration, eyes buy of Mentor technology A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Rochester Medical (Stewartsville, Minnesota) reported launching an arbitration proceeding against Mentor (Santa Barbara,...

Sontra fails to maintain minimum bid.
December 1, 2005... Sontra fails to maintain minimum bid Sontra Medical (Franklin, Massachusetts) reported that it recently received a deficiency letter from the Nasdaq indicating that it is not in compliance with the continued listing requirements of the...

GE Healthcare rolls out usual wide array of new products.
December 1, 2005... RSNA notebook GE Healthcare rolls out usual wide array of new products A Medical Device Daily Staff Report As it often does at such gatherings, GE Healthcare (Waukesha, Wisconsin) has highlighted its presence at this week's annual...

Grants/contracts.
December 1, 2005... Grants/contracts Kodak, Cedara in CAD accord; IntelliDOT in GPO agreement A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Cedara Software (Toronto), a Merge Healthcare company that develops medical software technologies, reported an agreement...

Product Briefs.
December 1, 2005... Product Briefs * Delcath Systems (Stamford, Connecticut) reported that it has received a Canadian patent for its Delcath system, which is used to deliver high doses of chemotherapy to specific organs and body regions. The CA 2297080 patent...

Johns Hopkins' Brody urges 'investment in radiologists'.
December 2, 2005... Radiological Society of North America Johns Hopkins' Brody urges 'investment in radiologists' By KAREN YOUNG Medical Device Daily Staff Writer CHICAGO --There are many ways to begin a speech to a large audience, but William...

Novadaq's SPY system helps surgeons verify CABG patency.
December 2, 2005... Novadaq's SPY system helps surgeons verify CABG patency By HOLLAND JOHNSON Medical Device Daily Associate Managing Editor El Camino Hospital (Mountain View, California) became one on a growing list of hospitals to benefit from a...

Report from Israel.(Lumenis (Yokneam, Israel) has received FDA approval to market its Novus 3000 ophthalmic treatment device that uses laser photocoagulators with the world's first and only Coaxial Multicolor LIO ()
December 2, 2005... Report from Israel Lumenis gets FDA clearance for advanced photocoagulator By RAE FISHMAN Medical Device Daily Contributing Writer Lumenis (Yokneam, Israel) has received FDA approval to market its Novus 3000 ophthalmic...

Deals roundup.(medical equipment industry)
December 2, 2005... Deals roundup St. Jude adds Savacor for $50M; Angiotech closes Lifespan buy By DON LONG Medical Device Daily Managing Editor St. Jude Medical (St. Paul, Minnesota) yesterday unveiled plans to acquire Savacor (Los Angeles), a...

Court report.
December 2, 2005... Court report Judge dismisses 2 of 7 claims brought by SEC vs. Scrushy A Medical Device Daily Staff Report The judge in the civil lawsuit brought by the federal government against Richard Scrushy, former CEO of HealthSouth...

Naviscan relocates to San Diego.
December 2, 2005... Naviscan relocates to San Diego Naviscan PET Systems (San Diego), maker of high-resolution positron emission tomography scanners, reported that it will relocate its headquarters and commercialization efforts to San Diego from Rockville,...

Financings roundup.
December 2, 2005... Financings roundup NeurogesX gets private $20M; Tm grosses more than $10M A Medical Device Daily Staff Report NeurogesX (San Carlos, California), a privately held specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development of...

Agreements.
December 2, 2005... Agreements Siemens, EMC enter reseller pact for lifecycle products A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Siemens Medical Solutions (Malvern, Pennsylvania), a developer of medical equipment and information technology (IT) solutions,...

NaviVision platform combines surgical C-arm with navigation.
December 2, 2005... RSNA notebook NaviVision platform combines surgical C-arm with navigation A Medical Device Daily Staff Report CHICAGO -- Companies continued to showcase new products as this week's annual meeting of the Radiological Society of...

Product Briefs.
December 2, 2005... Product Briefs * Aastrom Biosciences (Ann Arbor, Michigan), said it would initiate a human clinical trial for the evaluation of the company's Tissue Repair Cell (TRC) product to form new bone tissue in the spine. The Phase I/II trial will...

FDA approves larger patient cohort for COSTAR II study.
December 2, 2005... FDA approves larger patient cohort for COSTAR II study A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Conor Medsystems (Menlo Park, California) received FDA approval to expand enrollment in its CObalt chromium STent with Antiproliferative for...

People in Places.
December 2, 2005... People in Places * Todd Christian has joined Guava Technologies (Hayward, California) as vice president, commercial operations and Lalit Dhir as vice president, corporate development and strategic marketing. Most recently, Christian held...

Ultrasound is used to shrink uterine fibroids non-invasively.
December 5, 2005... Radiological Society of North America Ultrasound is used to shrink uterine fibroids non-invasively By KAREN YOUNG Medical Device Daily Staff Writer CHICAGO -- Women who suffer from uterine fibroids may have an effective option...

After delay, Edwards restarts percutaneous heart valve trial.
December 5, 2005... After delay, Edwards restarts percutaneous heart valve trial By HOLLAND JOHNSON Medical Device Daily Associate Managing Editor After a delay of nearly six-months, Edwards Lifesciences (Irvine, California) late last week reported...

International report.
December 5, 2005... International report HIFU provider introducing it in South Africa, Costa Rica A Medical Device Daily Staff Report S.A. HIFU Ltd., the South African subsidiary of U.S. HIFU (Charlotte, North Carolina), said it has entered into an...

New report offers overview of cardiovascular tech sector.
December 5, 2005... New report offers overview of cardiovascular tech sector Advances in Cardiovascular Technology: State of the Industry and Emerging Markets, Vol. 3, is now available from the publishers of Medical Device Daily, Cardiovascular Device Update...

Deals roundup.
December 5, 2005... Deals roundup Roper Industries buys Medtec for about $150 million in cash A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Roper Industries (Duluth, Georgia) has acquired Medtec (Orange City, Iowa) for about $150 million in cash. Medtec...

Court report.
December 5, 2005... Court report Firm says whistleblower-type suit is settled by CorSolutions A Medical Device Daily Staff Report The law firm of Andrew Grosso & Associates (Washington) reported settlement of a lawsuit between its client, Pei Tang,...

Financings roundup.
December 5, 2005... Financings roundup Biopure to offer 8.8M shares; MicroMed raises private $5M A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Biopure (Cambridge, Massachusetts) reported that it has filed a preliminary prospectus supplement to its shelf...

Hemosol continues process of winding down operations.
December 5, 2005... Hemosol continues process of winding down operations A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Hemosol (Toronto) continued to close down its business operations following its recent filing of bankruptcy, reporting on Friday that...

FDA okays Gen-Probe blood screen assay for West Nile.
December 5, 2005... FDA okays Gen-Probe blood screen assay for West Nile A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Gen-Probe (San Diego), which is focused on making nucleic acid tests (NATs) that are used primarily to diagnose human diseases and screen donated...

Grants/contracts.
December 5, 2005... Grants/contracts Perot Systems, Sentara sign five-year service agreement A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Perot Systems (Plano, Texas), a provider of information technology services and business solutions, reported a new...

Briefly Noted.(medical equipment markets)
December 5, 2005... Briefly Noted Report boosts RFID tech for healthcare The RFID market, though its business case and clinical value for healthcare are obvious, is still in its earliest stages. Further out, the potential returns and benefits of RFID...

People in Places.(Analogic, Apria Healthcare Group Inc.)(Brief Article)
December 5, 2005... People in Places * Dr. Edmund Becker Jr. has been named executive vice president and chief operating officer of Analogic (Peabody, Massachusetts). Becker has been an employee of Analogic since 1977. Serving many years as vice president and...

Product Briefs.(pharmaceutical products)
December 5, 2005... Product Briefs * Encision (Boulder, Colorado) said results of a pilot study using its AEM technology in hysteroscopy were presented at the recent American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscopists meeting in Chicago. The presentation,...

Boston Sci makes a late play for Guidant with $25B offer.
December 6, 2005... Boston Sci makes a late play for Guidant with $25B offer By HOLLAND JOHNSON Medical Device Daily Associate Managing Editor In an 11th-hour deal, Boston Scientific (BSX; Natick, Massachusetts) has proposed to acquire all the...

Vital Images shows analysis, visualization product line.
December 6, 2005... RSNA notebook Vital Images shows analysis, visualization product line A Medical Device Daily Staff Report CHICAGO -- Vital Images (Minneapolis), a provider of enterprise-wide visualization and analysis solutions, highlighted its...

Radlink says CR Pro expected to offer better digital images.
December 6, 2005... Radiological Society of North America Radlink says CR Pro expected to offer better digital images By KAREN YOUNG Medical Device Daily Staff Writer CHICAGO -- In a move that the company said "opens the door for computed...

Report from Europe.
December 6, 2005... Report from Europe Medical Intelligence adds to Elekta radiation therapy line A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Elekta (Stockholm, Sweden) last week reported the acquisition of Medical Intelligence (MI; Schwabmuenchen, Germany)...

Webcast of CyberKnife spine surgery highlights its gains.
December 6, 2005... Webcast of CyberKnife spine surgery highlights its gains By CYNTHIA DRAKE, RN Medical Device Daily Contributing Writer At Atlantic Health System's Overlook Hospital (Summit, New Jersey) neurosurgeon Brian Beyerl, MD, and radiation...

Financings roundup.
December 6, 2005... Financings roundup VirtualScopics closes on $7M; Conmed boosts share buyback A Medical Device Daily Staff Report VirtualScopics (Rochester, New York) reported the final closing of a private placement in which the company raised...

3TP Imaging becomes CAD Sciences.
December 6, 2005... 3TP Imaging becomes CAD Sciences 3TP Imaging Sciences (White Plains, New York) reported the change of its name to CAD Sciences. The company said the change more accurately reflects its products and services in computer-assisted diagnosis...

Agreements.
December 6, 2005... Agreements Siemens in smart card accord; Stratagene, Focus to team up A Medical Device Daily Staff Report A large segment of the population in the New York City metropolitan area could soon benefit from a patient "smart card"...

Deals roundup.
December 6, 2005... Deals roundup Biophan to get minority interest in Myotech, eyes outright buy A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Biophan Technologies (West Henrietta, New York) reported that it has entered into a purchase agreement to acquire a...

Product Briefs.(medical equipment industry)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2005... Product Briefs * 3M (St. Paul, Minnesota) reported the launch of the Littmann Electronic Stethoscope Model 3000 featuring amplification and ambient noise reduction technology. The Littmann Model 3000 has been proven to reduce ambient noise...

J&J won't sweeten Guidant pot; Inamed cites 'superior' offer.
December 7, 2005... J&J won't sweeten Guidant pot; Inamed cites 'superior' offer By HOLLAND JOHNSON Medical Device Daily Associate Managing Editor A couple of companies involved in two of the largest bidding wars of the year made their positions...

Terumo Interventional eyes being 'more plugged in' in U.S.
December 7, 2005... Terumo Interventional eyes being 'more plugged in' in U.S. By JIM STOMMEN Medical Device Daily Executive Editor Terumo Interventional Systems (Somerset, New Jersey) is eyeing new opportunities in a sector where much is happening....

Report from Europe.
December 7, 2005... Report from Europe VAD developer NewCorTec in financing round of EUR 5.8M A Medical Device Daily Staff Report NewCorTec (Pomezia, Italy), which is developing a ventricular-assist device (VAD), reported the closing of a financing...

SpineVision plans Singapore unit, FlexSpine, via financing.
December 7, 2005... SpineVision plans Singapore unit, FlexSpine, via financing By DON LONG Medical Device Daily Managing Editor SpineVision (Paris/Atlanta) yesterday reported raising more than $16 million in new equity financing and said that about...

Aksys reports worker cutbacks; Invitrogen realigns into 3 units.(Company Profile)
December 7, 2005... Aksys reports worker cutbacks; Invitrogen realigns into 3 units By DON LONG Medical Device Daily Managing Editor Developmental company Aksys (Lincolnshire, Illinois), manufacturer of dialysis devices for home use, yesterday said it...

Agreements roundup.
December 7, 2005... Agreements roundup Aspect Medical to collaborate on brain electrical activity A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Aspect Medical Systems (Newton, Massachusetts) and the Brain Resource Co. (BRC; Sydney, Australia) have agreed to...

Briefly Noted.
December 7, 2005... Briefly Noted Nikon Instruments in collaboration on facility Nikon Instruments (Melville, New York), which focuses on the development of advanced optical technology, the California Institute for Quantitative Biomedical Research (QB3)...

Boston Sci says injuries, one death prompt recall of filters.
December 7, 2005... Boston Sci says injuries, one death prompt recall of filters A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Boston Scientific (Natick, Massachusetts) reported that it is voluntarily recalling all Stainless Steel Greenfield Vena Cava Filters with...

Financings roundup.
December 7, 2005... Financings roundup Clarus Ventures closes on inaugural $500 million fund A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Clarus Ventures (Cambridge, Massachusetts/San Francisco), a new life sciences venture capital firm, yesterday reported...

Integrated Healthcare changes name to Talyst.
December 7, 2005... Integrated Healthcare changes name to Talyst Integrated Healthcare Systems (Seattle) has changed its name to Talyst. At the Midyear Clinical Meeting and Exhibition of the American Society of Health System Pharmacists, under way this week in...

Deals roundup.
December 7, 2005... Deals roundup BSD gets payment of $5.7M; UnitedHealth to acquire JDHC A Medical Device Daily Staff Report BSD Medical (Salt Lake City) reported that it has received a payment of nearly $5.7 million as quarterly proceeds from the...

Grants/contracts.
December 7, 2005... Grants/contracts Spire gets $750,000 award for Homeland Security project A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Spire (Bedford, Massachusetts) has been awarded a $750,000 Phase II Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) project from...

Product Briefs.(medical equipment industry)
December 7, 2005... Product Briefs * Draeger Medical (Luebeck, Germany) said its SmartCare/PS option for the EvitaXL ventilator has received 510(k) market clearance from the FDA and is available for sale in the U.S. SmartCare is a knowledge-based ventilation...

People in Places.(appointments)(Brief Article)
December 7, 2005... People in Places * Howard Aihara has been promoted to executive vice president and CFO of Alliance Imaging (Anaheim, California). Aihara joined Alliance in September 2000 as vice president, corporate controller, and has served as interim...

Enpath Medical CEO to retire, Hertig named as successor.
December 7, 2005... Enpath Medical CEO to retire, Hertig named as successor A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Enpath Medical (Minneapolis), a developer of percutaneous delivery systems and stimulation leads technologies, reported that its CEO, James...

Arbios' SEPET artificial liver Phase I safety trial under way.
December 8, 2005... Arbios' SEPET artificial liver Phase I safety trial under way By HOLLAND JOHNSON Medical Device Daily Associate Managing Editor Albert Einstein Medical Center (Philadelphia) said this week that it has enrolled the first patient in...

Cynosure launches IPO with shares priced at $12 to $14.
December 8, 2005... Cynosure launches IPO with shares priced at $12 to $14 A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Cynosure (Westford, Massachusetts) has launched its initial public offering (IPO) in an attempt to raise up to $65 million. It is offering 5...

Report from Israel.
December 8, 2005... Report from Israel Given Imaging gets FDA nod for Rapid 4 software release By RAE FISHMAN Medical Device Daily Contributing Writer ZICHRON YAAKOV, Israel -- Given Imaging (Yokneam, Israel) said this week that it has received...

Advanced analysis techniques from MRIs boost MS research.
December 8, 2005... Advanced analysis techniques from MRIs boost MS research By KIM URQUHART Medical Device Daily Staff Writer Advanced image analysis techniques, when applied to MRI data, are helping researchers gain a better understanding of...

Deals roundup.
December 8, 2005... Deals roundup Guidant to discuss BSX offer; MedLink Int'l acquires CNI A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Guidant (Indianapolis), which agreed to be acquired by Johnson & Johnson (J&J; New Brunswick, New Jersey), on Wednesday said...

Washington roundup.
December 8, 2005... Washington roundup NIH project seeks to speed review of grant applications A Medical Device Daily Staff Report The National Institutes of Health (NIH; Bethesda, Maryland) has rolled out a pilot effort to shorten the times for...

Financings roundup.
December 8, 2005... Financings roundup Celladon gets 1st tranche $6M for device-based gene therapy By AARON LORENZO Medical Device Daily Washington Writer Celladon (La Jolla, California), a relatively new company on the cardiovascular drug/device...

Grants/contracts.(Company Profile)
December 8, 2005... Grants/contracts Connecticut chooses DHS for emergency facility deployment A Medical Device Daily Staff Report DHS Systems (Orangeburg, New York) reported that it has been chosen by the state of Connecticut to supply a 100-bed...

Agreements roundup.
December 8, 2005... Agreements roundup Delphi Medical in distribution pact with Alliance on IVantage A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Delphi Medical Systems (Troy, Michigan), a subsidiary of Delphi Corp., signed an exclusive agreement with Alliance...

LCA Vision opens first center in New Mexico.
December 8, 2005... LCA Vision opens first center in New Mexico LCA-Vision (Cincinnati), a provider of laser vision correction services under the LasikPlus brand, reported the opening of a LasikPlus vision center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This marks the...

Briefly Noted.
December 8, 2005... Briefly Noted Ciphergen notified of non-compliance Ciphergen Biosystems (Fremont, California) reported that on Dec. 2, it was notified by the Nasdaq Listings Qualification Department notified that it has failed to comply with the...

People in Places.(appointments)(Brief Article)
December 8, 2005... People in Places * Jeffrey Richardson has been appointed senior director, communications for Aethlon Medical (San Diego). Prior to joining Aethlon, Richardson was director, global public relations for Amgen. Aethlon is pioneering the...

Product Briefs.
December 8, 2005... Product Briefs * i3ARCHIVE (Berwyn, Pennsylvania) said that it has extended the capabilities of its GRID-based medical imaging architecture, the National Digital Medical Archive (NDMA), to service the needs of business continuity and...

Enrollment concluded in trial of Prestige LP Cervical Disc.
December 8, 2005... Enrollment concluded in trial of Prestige LP Cervical Disc A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Medtronic Sofamor Danek (Memphis, Tennessee) reported completing enrollment in the Prestige LP Cervical Disc clinical trial, which it said...

Economist: Billions in health savings possible via broadband.
December 9, 2005... Economist: Billions in health savings possible via broadband By HOLLAND JOHNSON Medical Device Daily Associate Managing Editor A prominent economist reported that the U.S. has at its disposal an overlooked "secret weapon" that...

Medical Tactile introduces SureTouch breast mapping.
December 9, 2005... Medical Tactile introduces SureTouch breast mapping By KAREN YOUNG Medical Device Daily Staff Writer Medical Tactile (Los Angeles) is launching its SureTouch Visual Mapping System, a sensing device currently cleared only for...

Report from Europe.
December 9, 2005... Report from Europe Enrollment begins in Sorin's CLEAR study of pacemaker A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Sorin Group's (Milan, Italy) Cardiac Rhythm Management (CRM) business unit, which is focused on the hemodynamic management...

QLT to lay off 46% of staff and reduces guidance for Visudyne.
December 9, 2005... QLT to lay off 46% of staff and reduces guidance for Visudyne By DON LONG Medical Device Daily Managing Editor QLT (Vancouver, British Columbia) - originally founded and focused on photodynamic therapy, a drug for treatment of...

Deals roundup.
December 9, 2005... Deals roundup OXIS closes its BioCheck buy; ev3 sets MTI acquisition date A Medical Device Daily Staff Report OXIS International (Portland, Oregon), a developer of technologies for the diagnosis of diseases resulting from oxidative...

Briefly Noted.(medical equipment industry)
December 9, 2005... Briefly Noted Minnetronix expands St. Paul headquarters Minnetronix (St. Paul, Minnesota) broke ground on a new 23,600-square-foot addition to its facility. The project will more than double the current facility size, enabling the...

Financings roundup.
December 9, 2005... Financings roundup Oculir gets $7.3M in 'A' round; LabCorp to sell $250M in notes A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Oculir (San Diego), which is developing what it said is the first true non-invasive glucose testing system for...

Boston Sci issues recall of 40,000 cutting balloon devices.
December 9, 2005... Boston Sci issues recall of 40,000 cutting balloon devices A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Boston Scientific (Natick, Massachusetts) reported that it is voluntarily recalling all Flextome Cutting Balloon Device Monorail Delivery...

Grants/contracts.
December 9, 2005... Grants/contracts Dade Behring and Novation extend accord for test panels A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Dade Behring (Deerfield, Illinois), which describes itself as the largest company solely dedicated to clinical...