Cardiovascular Systems Inc. announced that the first seven patients in Japan have been enrolled in its Coronary Orbital Atherectomy System Trial (COAST) study. Taking place in the United States and Japan, the study is designed to assess the safety and efficacy, as well as economic outcomes, of CSI’s new micro crown Orbital Atherectomy System (OAS) in treating severely calcified coronary lesions in patients suffering from coronary artery disease (CAD). Shigeru Saito, M.D., director of cardiology and catheterization laboratories, Shonan Kamakura General Hospital, Kamakura, Japan, performed the procedures on Oct. 27.

New physician experience for the Convergent Procedure in the treatment of persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) was presented during a podium talk at the Northeast Cardiothoracic Surgical Society 20th Annual Meeting held last week in East Madison, N.H. William M. Boedefeld II, M.D., of CVT Surgical Center in Baton Rouge, La., reported on 224 patients, 66 percent of whom had persistent or longstanding persistent AF and 34 percent who had paroxysmal AF. At one-year follow-up, 93 percent of patients were in sinus rhythm.

Restenosis, the recurrence of narrowing of the arteries after stenting, is a common risk of this endovascular treatment. There are no well-defined guidelines to treat restenosis, but recent studies have shown excellent results with drug-eluting balloon angioplasty in coronary and femoral artery stents. However, few studies have focused on the carotid arteries, which take blood to the neck and head.

Doctors are more likely to try a new therapy when they are persuaded to do so by an influential colleague, reports a new Northwestern University study whose findings on adopting innovations also have relevance for business, education and research.

If Marvel’s Captain America can lay still during a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exam, so can kids. That’s the message of a special comic book designed to ease children’s fears before they undergo a scan, which requires them to lay still in a narrow, loud machine in order for it to produce clear images. The new Marvel Custom Solutions comic book is included in an “MRI Heroes Kit” developed by Siemens Healthcare and Marvel Custom Solutions in collaboration with Weill Cornell Imaging at NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medical College. The kit is designed to empower young patients by educating them about the procedure in a gentle and compelling way.

Mindray introduced the M9 premium compact ultrasound system at the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) annual meeting , the next generation in point-of-care ultrasound technology. The M9 is designed to provide physicians imaging for immediate clinical management and decision-making.

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