Abbott Vascular began its international launch of the Absorb coronary stent, the world's first drug-eluting bioresorbable vascular scaffold (BVS). It is now widely available across Europe and parts of Asia Pacific and Latin America. The Absorb is a first-of-its-kind device for the treatment of coronary artery disease (CAD).

Sept. 25, 2012 — America's healthcare system has become too complex and costly to continue business as usual, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine. Inefficiencies, an overwhelming amount of data and other economic and quality barriers hinder progress in improving health and threaten the nation's economic stability and global competitiveness, the report says. However, the knowledge and tools exist to put the health system on the right course to achieve continuous improvement and better quality care at lower cost, added the committee that wrote the report.

According to Millennium Research Group (MRG), the global authority on medical technology market intelligence, the saturated U.S. X-ray market will grow slowly to reach a value of $2.8 billion by 2016. Significant growth will be seen in digital replacement systems in all segments of the market.

September 24, 2012 — Surgically inserted cardiac devices play an important role in treating certain heart problems. In fact, an estimated 400,000 devices, including pacemakers and cardioverter defibrillators, are implanted each year in the United States. Still, selecting patients in whom these devices will provide the most benefit can be challenging.