January 16, 2009 - St. Jude Medical Inc. said its ViewMate II Ultrasound System with the ViewFlex PLUS Intracardiac Echocardiography (ICE) Catheter was used for the first use outside the U.S., enabling physicians to view real-time images from inside the heart as they diagnose and treat conditions resulting from abnormal rhythms or structural problems.

By reportedly providing clear, accurate images of the heart’s interior anatomy and the position of devices, the system enables physicians to perform procedures with increased control.

January 16, 2009 - According to a report released Jan. 14, 2009, by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), eliminating the highly enriched uranium process (HEU) — the primary source of medical isotopes in the U.S. — would be technically and economically feasible; however, the conversion to an alternative source will be years away, is likely to be more costly than the report estimates and will not alleviate the current ongoing shortages of medically necessary isotopes, according to the Society of Nuclear Medicine.

January 16, 2009 – As EP procedure volume increases worldwide, clinicians are requesting intuitive, advanced tools to help shorten procedure times and gain detailed visualizations for interventions, which inspired Royal Philips Electronics to sign an agreement with Bard Electrophysiology, a division of C. R. Bard Inc., to co-develop new clinical tools to help electrophysiologists.

January 16, 2009 - St. Jude Medical Inc. today said results from the landmark FAME (Fractional flow reserve (FFR) vs. Angiography in Multivessel Evaluation) study, which demonstrate a statistically significant 30 percent difference in major adverse cardiac events (MACE) such as death, myocardial infarction and repeat revascularization, was published in the New England Journal and Medicine.

January 16, 2009 - AngelMed announced Phase II of the ALERTS trial for the AngelMed Guardian implantable cardiac monitor and alert system, and is actively seeking up to 50 U.S. clinical sites to participate in the trial.

Designed to reduce time to presentation by detecting significant changes in the heart's electrical signal and then alerting patients to seek medical attention, the AngelMed Guardian System is commercially available in Brazil and available for investigational use only in the U.S.

January 16, 2009 – The FDA granted Fluke Biomedical U.S. Food and Drug 510(k) clearance for the Impulse 7010 Defibrillator Selectable Load Accessory to test defibrillators beyond 175 ohms.

Used in conjunction with the recently introduced Impulse 7000DP Defibrillator/External Pacer Analyzer, the Impulse 7010 supports defibrillator performance through the spectrum of patient impedances, the company said.

January 16, 2009 - Royal Philips Electronics and Hansen Medical Inc. this week signed joint development and cooperation agreements to co-develop integrated products that may simplify complex cardiac procedures to diagnose and treat arrhythmias.

January 16, 2009 -St. Jude Medical Inc. this week said a study was published on the St. Jude Medical Biocor Stented Tissue Valve with 20-year data showing excellent long-term durability of the Biocor tissue valve.

Published in the January 2009 issue of the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, this prospective study compiles data from 1,712 patients, and is one of the largest published studies of tissue valves.

January 15, 2009 - The six-month follow-up examination of a 64-year-old man enrolled in SECRITT I, a pilot study designed to evaluate the vProtect Luminal Shield as a treatment for vulnerable plaque, revealed that the target plaque was successfully stabilized.

The interventional cardiology team led by Professor Patrick W. Serruys, M.D., PhD, of Erasmus University, placed the vProtect Luminal Shield in the left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery of the patient at Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam in June of 2008.

January 15, 2009 - Implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) may reduce the risk of death by 30 percent in older patients with reduced heart function, according to research reported in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.

Paul Chan, M.D., M.Sc., lead author of the study and assistant professor at the Mid-America Heart Institute and the University of Missouri in Kansas City, said that ICDs reduced the risk of dying by 30 percent in patients younger than 65 years old, 65 to 74, and 75 and older.

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