News archive
August 2007

NHS Scotland rolls out nationwide diabetic retinopathy screening service
NHS Scotland has completed the roll-out of a country-wide diabetic retinopathy screening service to help prevent the large number of cases of blindness caused by diabetes. 23 August 2007

Boston Scientific plans further consolidation of core businesses
Boston Scientific Corporation has announced that it is considering the sale of its cardiac surgery and vascular surgery businesses in an ongoing review of its assets and as part of moves to strengthen its operating and financial performance. 21 August 2007

Staffordshire digital eye-screening programme on target to screen 35,000 diabetics
The Staffordshire Diabetic Retinopathy Screening Service, which is part of the UK's screening programme, is averaging 4,000 patient screenings per month and is on track to exceed its target of screening over 35,000 diabetes patients this year. 21 August 2007

MindWeavers to launch software to improve brain function
MindWeavers, a spin-out company from the University of Oxford, is launching a series of 'brain exercise' computer game products after securing £558,000 of new investment capital. 21 August 2007

MRI beats mammography in detecting early-stage breast cancer
A study by researchers at the University of Bonn has shown that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is more accurate than mammography in diagnosing very early stages of breast cancer. 21 August 2007

US FDA lacks resources to regulate nanotechnology
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released a report recommending action to address the benefits and risks of nanotechnology. But according to the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies the agency has been under-resourced for decades and there is a lack of risk-research data on nanotechnology for the agency to be able to carry out the recommendations. 21 August 2007

Philips to acquire RIS supplier Ximis
Royal Philips Electronics is taking over Texas-based radiology information system (RIS) supplier Ximis Inc. Ximis' product, Xiris, is considered to be complementary to Philips' own RIS product, iSite. 20 August 2007

Barco and Medicsight produce virtual colonoscopy solution
Barco will integrate Medicsight’s CAD function into its ColonMetrix software solution, thereby enabling faster and more efficient recognition of suspect lesions during virtual colonography. 17 August 2007

Nikon BioStation combines incubator and inverted microscope in one unit
An integrated ‘hands-off’ system for managing, observing and recording the growth of cells in culture has been launched by Nikon Instruments. 17 August 2007

Eye implant to monitor glaucoma
A sensor for implanting in the eye to monitor glaucoma by measuring pressure in the eye's interior has been developed by researchers at Purdue University. 15 August 2007

Miniature device implanted in brain could monitor and treat epilepsy
Purdue University researchers have developed a tiny transmitter three times the width of a human hair to be implanted below the scalp to detect the signs of an epileptic seizure before it occurs. 15 August 2007

Carestream Health becomes ‘supporting member’ of European Society of Radiology
Carestream Health will make its European debut at the 2008 European Congress of Radiology (ECR). The comapny was formed in May, when Canada's Onex Corporation acquired Eastman Kodak Company’s Health Group. 15 August 2007

US environment agency criticised for lack of action on health risks of nanomaterials
The US Environmental Protection Agency's voluntary Nanoscale Materials Stewardship Program has been labelled "too little, too late" by Environmental Defense. 14 August 2007

Orbotech acquires 3D — Danish Diagnostic Development
Danish Diagnostic Development A/S, a manufacturer of gamma cameras for nuclear medicine, is a privately-held Danish company that markets primarily in the United States through major industry suppliers that distribute them under their own brands. 13 August 2007

First implants for BioControl’s device for congestive heart failure
Cardiologists and surgeons at in Germany and Italy have successfully implanted BioControl's CardioFit device in the first patients as part of a multi-center clinical study. 13 August 2007

Rapid action in the community can prevent deaths during pandemic
A study of the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic has shown that early intervention to isolate infected people slowed down the spread of the disease and saved lives, according to a new study based on public records from the time. 9 August

Inverness Medical Innovations to acquire Hemosense
Inverness Medical Innovations  is to acquire point- of-care diagnostics supplier HemoSense, Inc. in an all stock deal. HemoSense manufactures and sells handheld blood coagulation systems for monitoring patients taking warfarin. 9 August 2007

Siemens to take over Dade Behring for US$7bn
Siemens has further strengthened its diagnostics capabilities with its merger agreement with US-based Dade Behring, Inc. The planned acquisition has a total transaction volume of approximately US$7 billion (about €5 billion), almost a 40% margin over the value of the company. 9 August

Speech and therapy software for speech disabled
The Touch & Talk system is a speech communication and therapy tool for patients suffering from stroke, autism, cancer and other speech communication disabilities. 5 August

OmniGuide gains EU approval for flexible fibres for CO2 surgical lasers
This will make flexible fibre delivery of a CO2 laser for minimally invasive surgery available in Europe and other countries that accept the CE mark. 5 August

CardioFocus receives European approval for endoscopic cardiac ablation system
The device combines endoscopic visualization and guidance with the delivery of therapeutic light energy to perform pulmonary vein isolation for the treatment of atrial fibrillation. 5 August

GE Centricity RIS/PACS goes live at Florence Nightingale Kiziltoprak Hospital, Turkey. 3 August 2007

Medtronic expands spinal business with acquisition of Kyphon for US$3.9bn
Medtronic, Inc. is strengthening its spinal business with the acquisition of Kyphon for US$3.9 billion in a move seen as complementary in product range and geographical markets. 3 August 2007

Artist's concept of a compact proton therapy systemCompact proton accelerator could revolutionise radiotherapy
The prospect of more widely available proton radiation therapy has moved closer with the development of a compact device called a dielectric wall accelerator (DWA) that could fit in standard treatment rooms and allow modulation for more precise treatment. 3 August 2007.

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