Sony Corp. made its first venture into the medical device space with the acquisition of diagnostics device maker Micronics Inc.

The merger, made through Sony subsidiary Sony Corp. of America for an undisclosed amount, will help the company "accelerate its own research and development, particularly for Point of Care diagnostic equipment, as well as to accelerate the commercialization of these products," according to a press release.

Redmond, Wash.-based Micronics specializes in point-of-care devices for disease diagnoses, treatment monitoring and blood testing, as well as providing product development for third parties.

The acquisition is Sony’s first med-tech merger and Micronics will be folded into Sony’s life sciences R&D team, according to the release.

"For some time, Sony has applied its consumer electronics technology to contribute to research and development in the medical and health care fields," Sony executive officer and executive VP Keiji Kimura said in prepared remarks. "We believe that the combination of Micronics’ development capabilities in the medical diagnosis domain and our consumer electronics and IT technologies, such as in optical discs, will enable us to offer innovative solutions that are responsive to the rapidly escalating needs for Point of Care diagnosis worldwide."

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