GE Healthcare has launched its new LightSpeed VCT XT, the industry’s first CT scanner that maintains outstanding image quality while reducing a patient’s radiation exposure by up to 70 percent for diagnostic cardiac scans. The company unveiled the technology this week during the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America in Chicago.

An innovative lead insulation material for cardiac leads used with pacemakers and ICDs is now FDA approved and available in the U.S. Optim, from St. Jude Medical, is the first silicone-polyurethane co-polymer material created specifically for cardiac lead use.

An implantable technology to control high blood pressure in patients not responding to available medicines has demonstrated initial favorable results in a study conducted at the University Hospital Berne in Switzerland. Developed by Minneapolis-based CVRx in 2002 and entering a clinical trial in the U.S., the tiny device - called the Rheos system - was first implanted in 11 patients undergoing surgery for carotid stenosis. Dr. Jurg Schmidli and colleagues placed electrodes outside the carotid wall and applied electrical stimulation.

November 2006 - Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc. has announced a new partnership with CVCTA Education and San Francisco Advanced Medical Imaging, a Liberty Pacific Medical Imaging Company, to serve as the company’s newest education and training partner.

LPMI’s San Francisco Advanced Medical Imaging recently installed Toshiba’s Aquilion 64 CFX system, an advanced cardiac CT system and the cornerstone of the program.

Houston based ThromboVision, Inc. has won the first annual Michael E. DeBakey Life Science Award, which carries a $50,000 cash prize to assist in propelling the company's technology toward commercial success.

In its third quarter financial report, San Diego-based Cytori said it has moved significantly closer to initiating its cardiovascular clinical trials," said Christopher J. Calhoun, chief executive officer of Cytori Therapeutics. The company is developing adipose stem cells in cardiovascular disease and for use in reconstructive surgery.

The stent market will have a distinctly different look after Johnson & Johnson completes its acquisition of Conor Medsystems, a $1.4 transaction that is expected to close in the first quarter of 2007, J&J reports. The companies announced their definitive agreement late last week.

A German physician reports that people who have implanted pacemakers or defibrillators are not in danger of their devices malfunctioning due to interference from wireless “hot spots” in public places such as airports, hospitals, offices or restaurants.


The tiny tools of interventional cardiology known as drug-eluting stents (which happen to comprise a gargantuan U.S. market of some $6 billion) are, as everyone knows, the subject of ongoing scrutiny, study and debate.
They’re also at the core of a peculiar healthcare industry paradox.

What doesn’t kill us, so the saying goes, makes us stronger. Those of us lucky enough to walk away from tragedy with our lives intact — for the most part — have undoubtedly learned important lessons not only about our own mortality but also the most basic human instinct: survival. And in today’s times of crises especially, we’ve learned the key to survival rests largely on preparedness and the recovery processes that follow.
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