Draeger Medical released at AACN 2008 the Innovian Anesthesia Version 2.2, featuring expanded capabilities for IT performance in the perioperative suite.

InnerSpace launched its System 100, which uses embedded radio frequency identification (RFID) technology and biometric security access to track and account for high-cost clinical supplies in real time.

STERIS Corp. launched its first Class 6 products, the Verify SixCess Steam Emulating Indicators and Test Packs, which are monitoring devices that provide faster final reads to allow the immediate release of all loads and all items within the load.

Masimo received FDA clearance in May 2008 for its noninvasive and continuous total hemoglobin monitoring technology (SpHb).

May 14, 2008 – Masimo today said it received FDA clearance for its noninvasive and continuous total hemoglobin monitoring technology (SpHb).

The company said the availability of its SpHb technology should make hemoglobin measurement more convenient and broadly available to clinicians in both hospital and outpatient settings, helping them make earlier and better clinical decisions, improve patient safety and decrease costs. Noninvasive total hemoglobin will be offered as part of the upgradable Masimo Rainbow SET technology platform.

May 15, 2008 - McKesson acquired Vivalog, a provider of Web-based solutions, taking control of the MyPACS.net medical imaging reference site that enables radiologists, cardiologists and other imaging specialists to organize and share image and reference case information needed during daily practice.


The healthcare industry has increasingly integrated the use of robots into many areas of medicine. In intensive care units (ICUs) and operating rooms (ORs), doctors are working with robots hand-in-hand— literally.

Efforts to reduce discovery-to-balloon (d-to-b) and door-to-balloon times is sweeping the country as hospitals put in place new protocols and strengthen their ties with local emergency medical service personnel.
Ideally, patients stricken with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) should receive a clot-busting drug like TPA (tissue plasminogen activator) within 30 minutes of onset of symptoms or undergo a balloon angioplasty within 90 minutes. Unfortunately, few hospitals have yet to achieve those optimum times. But they are getting better.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) affects more than 3.5 million Americans and is a major source of strokes and a precursor to potentially fatal deterioration of the heart. Although physicians in the last decade have treated the condition with radiofrequency ablation, overall success rates have been limited.

As new drug-eluting stents (DES) receive premarket approval (PMA) from the FDA, despite an abrupt downturn in the market, competition among platforms is expected to heat up. DES use will be further bolstered by positive reports on percutaneous coronary implant (PCI) procedures from the ARRIVE, SPIRIT II, COURAGE and CREATE clinical trials.
But do these new developments mean that concerns over late-stent thrombosis have been forgotten? Or will looming doubts stagger renewed adoption of DES in the clinical setting?
DES Market Swings
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