January 7, 2008 - Ischemia experienced in brief episodes could protect the heart by preparing it for a heart attack, according to early findings from an animal study by researchers at the University of Cincinnati, which was published in the January issue of the American Journal of Physiology: Heart and Circulatory Physiology.

January 8, 2008 - GE Healthcare has initiated a vendor-independent educational program, designed specifically for biomedical and technical professionals, to enhance their knowledge of IT concepts for healthcare, identifying core IT skills critical to servicing and supporting today’s integrated and networked medical devices.

January 7, 2008 - Osiris Therapeutics Inc. has reclaimed sole worldwide rights to cardiovascular indications for Prochymal and terminated its development and commercialization agreement with Boston Scientific Corp. in order to provide Osiris with the flexibility to enter more strategically beneficial relationships.

January 7, 2008 - Cardica Inc. received nearly $2 million in payments from Cook Medical (Cook) for reaching milestones pursuant to its development agreements with Cook, including a vascular closure device collaboration agreement and initial development milestone for a device to repair heart defects.

January 7, 2008 - Abiomed Inc. has rolled out a new Portable Circulatory Support Driver for both in-hospital and out-of-hospital patients designed to support Abiomed’s AB5000 Ventricular Assist Device (VAD), designed to provide either univentricular or biventricular support.

January 7, 2008 - Boston Scientific Corp. has completed the sale of its Cardiac Surgery and Vascular Surgery businesses to the Getinge Group of Sweden for $750 million in cash as part of a divestiture strategy to reduce expenses and simplify its operating model.

The news comes after the definitive agreement was announced on November 5, 2007. The company expects to record after-tax charges of approximately $240 million in connection with the transaction. These charges will be recorded during the fourth quarter of 2007 and the first quarter of 2008.

January 7, 2008 - An on-line vascular health activity book that teaches children ages 5-12 how their vascular system works is now available on www.vascularweb.org.

It uses “blood buddies” to teach children how the vascular system delivers oxygen and nutrients throughout their bodies and why they need to eat well and maintain an active lifestyle to keep it healthy. It stresses the importance of exercise, healthy eating, and not smoking through games and coloring pages.

January 7, 2008 – Patients with atrial flutter and atrial fibrillation may require additional sites of ablation to effectively treat their atrial fibrillation, according to a European-based study of atrial fibrillation patients treated with CryoCor’s Cardiac Cryoablation System, which was published in the December 11, 2007 issue of Circulation.

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the role of atrial flutter in the recurrence of atrial fibrillation and the effectiveness of an ablation strategy focused on isolating the pulmonary veins to treat the atrial fibrillation.

January 7, 2008 - Imaging for early cardiovascular disease that causes heart attack and stroke is the focus of the High-Risk Plaque (HRP) Initiative, a new study to develop improved techniques for identifying individuals at risk for heart attacks and of advanced methods to monitor disease progression and treatment response.

January 3, 2008 - A study reported in the Jan. 3 New England Journal of Medicine found that one third of patients who had in-hospital cardiac arrest received delayed defibrillation, which is associated with lower rates of survival.

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