New pacemaker connector must be tested before, not after, FDA approval, scientists say
The US FDA is allowing the sale of potentially dangerous pacemaker equipment, two high-profile cardiologists have alleged. Writing in the New England Journal of Medicine, Robert Hauser and Adrian Almquist say that the FDA "is not acting in the best interests of patients" by permitting medtech firms to sell a new type of implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) lead without clinical trials.
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Posted Tuesday 16 December 2008
by Elizabeth Cairns,
Editor, Science & Technology

Innovation in Norway
"Hospital stays are about 80% boredom and only 20% pain," says Arne Olav Solumsmo, St Olav's director of communications. If patients who couldn't sleep were able to watch a movie instead, it might make them think twice about calling a nurse, he reckons. Tina and I get to see why Norway is so outside the box.
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Posted Friday 12 December 2008
by Madeleine Armstrong,
Senior Reporter, Science & Technology

Clinica at RSNA 2008: An interactive feature
This year's Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) conference, held in Chicago, Illinois, had a different focus to last year's, which was dominated by CT's "slice war", says Madeleine Armstrong. Companies are now insisting that the slice war is over, and are focusing on other CT technologies such as spectral imaging.
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Posted Tuesday 9 December 2008
by Madeleine Armstrong,
Senior Reporter, Science & Technology

Early data back Thoratec's HeartMate II as destination therapy
The HeartMate II left ventricular assist device (LVAS) developed by Thoratec is much more effective than a previous model, early trial results have shown.
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Posted Tuesday 9 December 2008
by Elizabeth Cairns,
Editor, Science & Technology

India's national AIDS body slammed over faulty HIV test kits
India's Central Information Commission (CIC) wants the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) to explain why it should not be fined for failing to surrender information about supplies of “allegedly defective” HIV test kits since 2004.
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Posted Friday 5 December 2008
by Girija Shettar,
Senior Reporter, World Markets

Ten million people need AIDS tests by 2011, US health forum hears
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) calls on the US government to release $200m in order to test 10 million people for AIDS over the next three years.
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Posted Thursday 27 November 2008
by Peter Rixon,
Editor, North America

J&J set to boost surgery business with $438m in Omrix buy
In a bid to strengthen its biosurgical products business, Johnson & Johnson has agreed to purchase Omrix Biopharmaceuticals for $438m in an all-cash deal.
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Posted Wednesday 26 November 2008
by Joseph Harvey,
Reporter, Business & Medtech Ventures

Siemens to unveil "fastest" and "lowest dose" CT at RSNA
Siemens Healthcare will introduce its new CT scanner, the Somatom Definition Flash, at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) meeting next week. The firm claims that the device combines "unprecedented speed…with the lowest dose you can see today in any CT scanner".
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Posted Tuesday 25 November 2008
by Madeleine Armstrong,
Senior Reporter, Science and Technology

UK and EU nanotech policy "based on ignorance and uncertainty"
The UK's Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution (RCEP) has slammed national policy on nanotechnology as being founded on "profound ignorance and uncertainty".
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Posted Tuesday 25 November 2008
by Bernard Murphy,
Deputy Editor

Editor's comment: Small is beautiful in the world of surgery
The smaller the incision and the less invasive the surgery, the better the outcome for the patient and for the healthcare payor, says Tina Tan, our Business & Medtech Ventures editor.
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Posted Thursday 13 November 2008
by Tina Tan,
Editor, Business & Medtech Ventures