3M Health Care offers the 3M Filtro 1900 tie-on duckbill surgical mask that incorporates proprietary filtration media and a rayon outer layer for increased breathability and comfort.

The mask provides off-the-face comfort and unmuffled speech, the company said. The filter combination reduces fogging that results from breathing into a surgical mask, and has a lower delta P, a measurement sought by clinicians performing longer surgical procedures.

June 2008

A new cardiac treatment facility that couples the benefits of interventional cardiology with cardiothoracic surgery for critically ill newborns, children and adults has opened at Rush University Medical Center, Chicago. Toshiba's new biplane hybrid cardiac suite, which is one of only three facilities of its kind in the U.S., is equipped with the latest in continuous, real-time imaging technology and radio frequency identification (RFID) technology which allows "all-in-one-room" care.

June 26, 2008 - Loyola University Hospital has become the first Chicago-area hospital to treat heart problems with a magnetically guided catheter that is reportedly more precise than manual catheters and easier on the heart.

The Gentle Touch catheter has a metal tip. It is guided by two computer-controlled magnets, one on each side of the patient.

The magnetically guided catheter can be used to treat irregular heartbeats, to open clogged arteries and to place electrical leads for certain types of pacemakers. The $1.5 million system is made by Stereotaxis, Inc.

June 25, 2008 - U.S. health regulators remain concerned about the safety of contrast agents used to enhance echocardiogram heart imaging tests, according to FDA documents released on Friday.

The products, which include Optison, made by General Electric Co's GE Healthcare, and Definity, made by privately-held Lantheus Medical Imaging, have already been linked to serious heart problems and deaths in some patients.

June 25, 2008 - People with lower incomes and education levels are more likely to die after heart attack than more affluent, educated people, according to a study in the June issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

June 25, 2008 - Lexiscan (regadenoson) injection, an A2A adenosine receptor agonist, for use as a pharmacologic stress agent in radionuclide MPI in patients unable to undergo adequate exercise stress, is now commercially available, reported Astellas Pharma U.S.

June 25, 2008 - Cambridge Heart has licensed a patent (7,336,995) for a "Method and Apparatus for Tachycardia Detection and Treatment" from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) under the terms of its umbrella technology license agreement with MIT, which enables the measurement of T-Wave alternans from implantable devices as part of a strategy to predict arrhythmias before they occur.

June 25, 2008 - Health Canada - Medical Device Bureau, Therapeutic Products Programme, has approved the use of the ATS Open Pivot AP360 Mechanical Heart Valve, allowing ATS to offer a valve designed according to specific valve selection criteria of cardiac surgeons.

June 25, 2008 – Global Therapeutics received CE Mark approval for a new cobalt chromium bare metal coronary stent, the GTX Coronary Stent System, which targets the bare metal stent market.

The GTX stent is reportedly engineered to eliminate the technical challenges, such as recoil, stent balloon retention and stent spring-back, that have been associated with earlier cobalt chromium stent designs currently on the market.”

June 25, 2008 - Cardiologists completed the 1,300th worldwide procedure utilizing the TandemHeart System, said manufacturer CardiacAssist, marking the increased acceptance of the device and use by cardiologists and surgeons.

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