News archive
December 2008

 

Medtronic acquires remaining shares of CryoCath Technologies Inc.
31 December 2008

Medtronic acquires Influent Medical's Repose product line
Medtronic, Inc. has acquired InfluENT Medical's Repose GAHM product line for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea. 31 December 2008

St Jude Medical acquires MediGuide
St Jude Medical, Inc. has acquired all of the outstanding shares of MediGuide Inc., including the 41.3% interest owned by Elbit Systems Ltd., for $283 million in cash. 31 December 2008

St Jude Medical acquires Radi Medical Systems
St Jude Medical, Inc (NYSE: STJ) has completed the acquisition of  Radi Medical Systems AB for $250 million in cash. 31 December 2008

U-Systems, Inc. announces technology licensing agreement with Siemens Healthcare
The U-Systems’ somo•VIEWer advanced workstation for Automated Breast Ultrasound has been licensed for use with the newly introduced Siemens’ ACUSON S2000 Automated Breast Volume Scanner (ABVS). 31 December 2008

Nihon Kohden acquires Neurotronics
Japanese company Nihon Kohden Corporation has announced the mutual agreement of acquisition of a 100% share of Florida-based Neurotronics Incorporated. 31 December 2008

BioNJ launches tool kit to assist bioscience companies in troubled economy
BioNJ, the trade association for the US state of New Jersey's bioscience industry, has launched the Troubled Times Tool Kit. The virtual program was developed to assist New Jersey's bioscience companies by providing strategies and tactics for weathering the current economic storm. 31 December 2008

Eating dark chocolate at Christmas can help prevent over-eating
Dark chocolate is far more filling than milk chocolate, lessening our craving for sweet, salty and fatty foods, so can eating it may be an efficient way to keep your weight down over Christmas, according to research at the University of Copenhagen. 22 December 2008

Olympus enters into sales and distribution partnership with Advanced Surgical Concepts
Olympus has signed an exclusive agreement to distribute the minimally invasive surgery products of Irish company Advanced Surgical Concepts worldwide. 22 December 2008

deCODE discovers common genetic variations contributing to risk of osteoporosis
Scientists from deCODE genetics and colleagues from Australia and Denmark have reported the discovery of common single-letter variations (SNPs) in the human genome linked to low bone mineral density (BMD), the clinical measurement used to diagnose osteoporosis. 22 December 2008

Siemens to integrate laboratory and clinical systems at Hospital Clinic Barcelona
Siemens Healthcare has signed an agreement with Hospital Clinic in Barcelona, Spain, to integrate the use of laboratory diagnostics, imaging and information technology systems to improve management of patient care from early detection and diagnosis of diseases or conditions to patient treatment. 22 December 2008

EU legislation threatens use of MRI scanners
Urgent action and public pressure is still required to stop the European Union adopting legislation which will restrict the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners throughout Europe, according to the UK's Institute of Physics. 22 December 2008

Hidalgo physiological monitoring system gains CE approval
Produced by Jaltek Systems Equivital is an ambulatory, wearable, high performance physiological system providing continuous real-time visibility of an individual’s vital signs. 19 December 2008

German hospital finance reform improves access to medical technologies
The German parliament has paved the way for the use of more innovative medical technologies with the passing of the Hospital Financing Reform Act. 19 December 2008

First UK prostate patient treated with RapidArc radiotherapy
A 65-year-old grandfather of six has become the first cancer patient in the UK to be treated using RapidArc radiotherapy technology from Varian Medical Systems. 17 December 2008

St Jude Medical announces name change for neuromodulation division
St Jude Medical, Inc. (NYSE:STJ) has announced that its neuromodulation division, formerly Advanced Neuromodulation Systems, has adopted the St Jude Medical name. 17 December 2008

Fresenius Medical Care dialysis products awarded Nordic Ecolabel
Fresenius Medical Care has been awarded a Nordic Ecolable license for its peritoneal dialysis bags. The first Ecolabelling of its kind in the world, the dialysis Ecolabel applies to peritoneal dialysis bags and disposables used both in hospitals and in homes. 17 December 2008

German innovation for HIV/AIDS diagnostics used 2.5 million times in 2008
During 2008, 2.5 million patient tests have been performed with Partec's CyFlow system, which is already supporting more than 1 million people living with HIV/AIDS. 17 December 2008

Philips ranked first for patient monitoring systems in 2008
Royal Philips Electronics has announced that customers have again rated Philips Healthcare first in overall service performance for patient monitoring systems in the annual IMV ServiceTrak survey. 15 December 2008

Technology innovation award for OBS Medical's patient monitoring system
OBS Medical, a wholly-owned subsidiary of British company Oxford BioSignals, has been awarded the prestigious 2008 North American Frost & Sullivan Technology Innovation Award for its Visensia early-warning patient monitoring system. 15 December 2008

EU project developing DNA diagnostic device for doctor's desktop
The SMART-BIOMEMS project is developing a lab on a microfluidic chip that can be used in a portable diagnostic device to simultaneously and automatically analyse various DNA samples with high precision. 10 December 2008

fMRI shows robotic hand exerciser improves brain function of stroke patients
Chronic stroke patients can be rehabilitated by a hand-operated robotic device, according to a study that used functional magnetic resonance scans (fMRI) to map changes in the brain. 10 December 2008

New molecular imaging technique targets hard to detect breast cancers
Breast-specific gamma imaging (BSGI), an emerging molecular imaging technology, is effective in the detection of cancers not found on mammograms or by clinical exam. 10 December 2008

Hospital on a chip could increase survival of battlefield wounded
Researchers in the US aim to develop an implantable biochip that could diagnose and provide medication to soldiers as soon as they are injured. Survival of battlefield wounds often depends on the level of treatment within the first 30 minutes, so providing instant treatment to wounded soldiers before a medic can reach them could increase chances of survival. 8 December 2008

Mathematical breakthrough could remove donuts from MRI scanners
Researchers in Ohio and France have solved a longstanding scientific mystery involving magnetic resonance — the physical phenomenon that allows the MRI scanners used by hospitals to take images of tissues deep within the human body. Their discovery, a new mathematical algorithm, should lead to new MRI techniques with more informative and sharper images. 8 December 2008

IBM breaks new ground with open-standard medical imaging and archiving solutions
IBM has unveiled a powerful combination of advanced imaging and information archiving technologies that provides healthcare and medical research organisations with complete and timely access to critical imaging and diagnostic information at the point of care — regardless of the source, age or location of the information. 8 December 2008

Smiths Medical renews research partnership with Great Ormond Street Hospital and University College London
The partnership will provide sponsorship for the Smiths Medical Professor of Anaesthesia and Critical Care at UCL and research into paediatric respiratory physiology and paediatric anaesthesia and intensive care. 5 December 2008.

Global life science businesses seeking UK partners in biotechnology
UK companies have an opportunity to meet and do business with international players in the life science industry at The Biotechnology Business Exchange (BBE) in London on Monday 8 December.  4 December 2008

Neglected diseases targeted by Genzyme and the International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology
The collaboration to advance treatments for neglected diseases will initially focus on the development of new, improved treatments for malaria, a debilitating infectious disease of developing countries. 4 December 2008

NeuroNexus Technologies and Philips partner to develop deep brain stimulation devices
The partnership combines Philips Research’s strengths in microelectronics, signal processing, ultra-low power system design and miniaturization with NeuroNexus Technologies’ expertise in micro-scale electrode design and fabrication. The first aim is to develop a device to treat parkinson's disease. 4 December 2008

HepaLife liver stem cell line launched onboard Space Shuttle
A liver stem cell line developed by HepaLife Technologies, Inc. was launched on board Space Shuttle Endeavour on its recent 15-day mission in November. 4 December 2008

Medtronic gains EU approval for world's first MRI-safe pacemaker
Medtronic, Inc., has received the CE mark for the first-ever MR-conditional pacemaker system, the EnRhythm MRI SureScan pacemaker and CapSureFix MRI SureScan pacing leads (Model 5086MRI). 4 December 2008

PerkinElmer launches high performance imaging acquisition and analysis software
The Volocity 5 software is a complete solution for 3D and 4D image acquisition from fluorescence microscopy systems, allowing data visualisation, deconvolution, publication, object measurement, tracking and charting. 4 December 2008

Computer model improves design of ultrasound transducer
Researcher Koos Huijssen of the Delft University of Technology has developed a computer model that can predict the sound transmission of improved designs for ultrasound transducers. It will lead to better imaging for ultrasound scanners. 4 December 2008

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