October 11, 2012 — Edwards Lifesciences Corp. announced it has completed the acquisition of BMEYE B.V., a privately held Dutch company that specializes in the development of noninvasive technology for advanced hemodynamic monitoring.

Following Health Canada approval, Cook Medical has made the Zilver Vena Venous Self-Expanding Stent available to physicians across Canada. Designed to restore blood flow in obstructed iliofemoral veins, Zilver Vena provides physicians with a tool designed specifically for stenting obstructed iliofemoral veins.

Advocate Health Care, one of the nation's top health systems and the largest integrated health care system in the state of Illinois, and GE Healthcare, a national leader in low dose, high performance imaging, announced a joint effort to help further reduce radiation dose in computed tomography (CT). The goal is to optimize care for patients needing imaging procedures and reduce radiation where possible without adversely impacting image quality. It’s one of the first announcements of the GE Blueprint for low dose, a comprehensive campaign in which GE Healthcare is working alongside leading U.S. health systems to further reduce radiation dose in CT imaging. Leaders from Advocate and GE Healthcare unveiled the Advocate-based GE Blueprint for low dose today during an event at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital.

The American Medical Association (AMA) Current Procedural Terminology (CPT 1) Editorial Panel has assigned Category I CPT codes specifically for bronchial thermoplasty in its recently published CPT 2013 Professional Edition. Beginning Jan. 1, 2013, physicians and hospitals will be able to seek reimbursement through two new codes to describe the bronchial thermoplasty procedure. Category I CPT procedure codes are recognized by all public and private health insurance payers in the United States.