April 3, 2007 — Cardiovascular Associates, Kingsport, TN, has announced it is studying a medical device in patients to measure the potential health benefits of a new implantable pulse generator called the Optimizer. Developed by Impulse Dynamics, the Optimizer delivers electrical impulses to the heart for patients who suffer from moderate-to-severe heart failure.

April 3, 2007 — GE Healthcare and Volcano Corp. have successfully implemented, at multiple sites, Innova IVUS, the world's only fully Integrated IVUS and Cath Lab system. An exclusive collaboration between Volcano Corp. and GE Healthcare made implementation of the fully integrated intravascular ultrasound system for the cath lab and interventional suite possible.

April 3, 2007 —FoxHollow Technologies Inc. has announced it has submitted a 510(k) premarket notification to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its NightHawk Plaque Excision System. The intended use of the NightHawk System is in the evaluation of peripheral vascular morphology.

April 3, 2007 — Medicare has announced it will approve additional hospitals for ventricular assist device implantations.

Under the previous Medicare regulations, approved facilities had to meet requirements outlined in a 2003 National Coverage Determination.

The updated requirements, which could open the door to certification of more facilities, include having an experienced surgeon on hand, and certification by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.

April 2, 2007 — Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami Beach, FL, has implanted one of the first of a new device intended to strengthen the heartbeat of patients with heart failure. The pacemaker-like device called the Optimizer System is a pulse generator designed to deliver electrical impulses to the heart for treatment of moderate to severe heart failure.

April 2, 2007 — CardioMEMS Inc. has announced the FDA has cleared the EndoSure AAA Wireless Pressure Measurement System for measuring intrasac pressure during thoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA) repair.

April 2, 2007 — Cordis Corp. has announced today the start of the pivotal trial for the ExoSeal Vascular Closure Device. The ECLIPSE Trial is a multicenter, non-blinded, randomized study designed to measure the safety and efficacy of the ExoSeal Vascular Closure Device versus manual compression to close vascular access sites in patients having undergone diagnostic or interventional procedures.

The trial will encompass 400 patients from 18 medical centers across the U.S.

The ImageGrid by Candelis Inc. is a line of Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) industry-standard PACS appliances optimized for digital-image access and routing. It provides simplified image management and highly reliable storage and archive capabilities in a fully-integrated storage server platform.

The ImageGrid by Candelis Inc. is a line of Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) industry-standard PACS appliances optimized for digital-image access and routing. It provides simplified image management and highly reliable storage and archive capabilities in a fully-integrated storage server platform.

Scottcare Corp. announced that Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has significantly increased reimbursement levels for external counterpulsation (ECP) therapy. While 2007 Medicare physician payments for cardiology overall dropped by 2 percent, ECP merited a 6.3 percent increase. As a result, the new 2007 national average physician reimbursement for ECP therapy increased to $147 per one-hour session and $5,160 for the complete course of treatment.

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