Thoratec Corp., a product manufacturer in cardiovascular disease, said that its International Technidyne Corporation (ITC) division acquired A-VOX Systems Inc., a manufacturer of point-of-care (POC) instruments and disposables to perform CO-Oximetry testing.

Research by a Sandia National Laboratories engineer and a University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center neurologist shows that brain injury may occur within one millisecond after a human head is thrust into a windshield as a result of a car accident.

This happens prior to any overall motion of the head following impact with the windshield and is a new concept to consider for doctors interested in traumatic brain injury (TBI).

A New UCLA study shows Ceremed Inc.'s Ostene, designed to stop bone bleeding during cardiac surgery, doesn't inhibit bone regeneration and is an effective substitute for commonly used bone wax, a beeswax-based remedy known to obstruct healing that has been in use at least since the Civil War and is a factor in hospital-acquired infections. The study results were announced at a scientific conference in Stockholm and will be published later this year.

Zoll Medical Corp., a manufacturer of resuscitation devices and related software solutions, reported that Uintah Basin Medical Center (UBMC) is the first hospital in the state of Utah to deploy the ZOLL AutoPulse Non-invasive Cardiac Support Pump. Based in Roosevelt, Utah (approximately 85 miles east of Provo), UBMC has deployed one AutoPulse in the hospital’s emergency department, which operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Additionally, four AutoPulse devices are deployed on UBMC’s ambulance fleet, which serves more than 22,000 residents in a 3,200-square-mile area.

Dräger Medical AG & Co. KG today announced that it has expanded its relationship with Masimo and will integrate Masimo Rainbow SET platform as its principal pulse oximetry technology. The Rainbow SET platform offers Masimo SET Read-Through Motion and Low Perfusion pulse oximetry plus upgradeability to add other parameters in the future. Upgrades are available today for carboxyhemoglobin (carbon monoxide) and methemoglobin and others are planned for the future. Dräger Medical will be incorporating Masimo Rainbow SET into major acute care products.

Jan. 23-24, 2007, Las Vegas. Learn current best practices and invaluable strategies from the leaders of top bariatric centers. Hear unparalleled insights on how to:       
     • Achieve a competitive edge for your center by using a multidisciplinary assessment program          
     • Build and manage a Bariatric Center of Excellence in a rural area
     • Understand quality criteria from the health plan perspective, and approval requirements for reimbursement

McKesson Corporation (NYSE:MCK) and Per-Se Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSTI) announced today that the two companies have signed a definitive agreement under which McKesson will acquire Per-Se. Per-Se is a leading provider of financial and administrative healthcare solutions for hospitals, physicians and retail pharmacies. Under the terms of the agreement, McKesson will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Per-Se for $28.00 per share in cash.


New whole-body imaging techniques are widening the scope of vision into the details of biological function. By using whole-body PET/CT, scientists are tracking immune system cellular activity in real time. Simultaneously, investigators are optimistic about advances in whole-body MRI, where MR improves the ability to identify metastatic spread and MR angiography has proven instrumental in detecting carotid and peripheral vascular disease.
PET/CT Captures Cells in Real Time
The Precedence SPECT/CT system from Philips Medical Systems
The Precedence SPECT/CT system from Philips Medical Systems

In the past, nuclear medicine had been coined “unclear medicine” by cynics because of its inability to target exactly where disease is located in the body. The uncertainty was not in the ability of functional imaging to determine a problem, but in localization.

In a study by Dr. Jean-Yves Douillard of the Centre Rene Gauducheau in St. Herblain, France, and colleagues in Italy and Spain, researchers found that adding a course of radiation to chemotherapy doubled the lives of some lung cancer patients.
The survey tested 840 patients with stage three lung cancer, which had spread to lymph nodes outside the lung, but not throughout the body. Of these, 232 agreed to extra radiation treatment.

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