1. BioTelemetry launches offer to acquire LifeWatch
BioTelemetry and LifeWatch announced in an April 9 press release that the 2 companies have entered a transaction agreement that states BioTelemetry will launch a tender offer to acquire all shares of LifeWatch. The LifeWatch shareholders will receive either 10 Swiss francs in cash and 0.1457 shares of BioTelemetry stock per LifeWatch share or 8 Swiss francs in cash and 0.2175 shares of BioTelemetry stock per LifeWatch share. The deal is expected to be worth approximately 260 million Swiss francs.
2. FDA approves marketing of first whole slide imaging system for digital pathology
The FDA approved marketing for the Philips IntelliSite Pathology Solution (PIPS), according to an April 12 press release. PIPS is the first whole slide imaging system that allows for review and interpretation of digital surgical pathology slides that are prepared from biopsied tissue. The FDA has not permitted the marketing of a whole slide imaging system for these purposes before. PIPS uses hardware and software to scan and digitize conventional surgical pathology glass slides that have been prepared from biopsied tissue at 400x magnification resolutions. Pathologists can review and interpret those images.
3. Second Sight touts first Asian Argus II implantation
Second Sight Medical Products announced in an April 13 press release that it has implanted its Argus II implants into its first patients in Asia through an exclusive distribution partnership with Orient Europharma. The Argus II system provides electrical stimulation that can bypass the defunct retinal cells and stimulates remaining viable cells. The procedure induces visual perception in individuals with severe to profound retinitis pigmentosa.
4. Acelity enhances VAC Ulta therapy system
Acelity has announced 2 significant enhancements to its VAC Ulta therapy system, according to an April 13 press release. The negative pressure wound therapy system has been enhanced to improve clinicians’ experiences by using first-to-market connectivity technology, iOn Results remote therapy monitoring. It connects hospitals to Acelity’s service and support offering to promote compliance and drive proper patient utilization of therapy. The VAC Ulta 4 therapy system has simplified functionality, reports summative therapy and allows for on-screen selection of 4 therapies on a device. The enhancements in the technology provide better accuracy and certainty for clinicians to improve outcomes for patients at a lower cost, according to Acelity.
5. Health Canada approves Sight Science’s Visco 360
Sight Science announced in an April 13 press release that its Visco 360 viscosurgical system has been approved by Health Canada. The Visco 360 system is used for the microcatheterization and transluminal viscodilation of the Schlemm’s canal to reduce intraocular pressure in adults with open-angle glaucoma. The Visco 360 viscosurgical system gives ophthalmologists a user-friendly, clear corneal approach to canaloplasty.
6. Toshiba Medical launches Aquilion Lighting CT
Toshiba Medical has officially launched its Aquilion Lightning 80 CT system, according to an April 11 press release. The 80-detector row system is designed for full body imaging and routine scanning. With CT technology found in high-end systems, it has fast reconstruction speeds at a full resolution of up to 50 images per second and the industry’s thinnest slices at 0.5 mm and a 78 cm bore.
7. CollPlant touts post-market surveillance study data
CollPlant announced in an April 11 press release that it has released the data from its European post-marketing surveillance of its wound care product, Vergenix FG, that is intended to treat patients with chronic and hard-to-heal wounds. CollPlant monitored 10 patients who underwent one treatment of Vergenix FG. Five weeks after treatment, patients showed an average wound closure of 80% and had no safety or tolerability issues.
