
MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Minnesota life sciences investment took a sharp upward turn in 2013, with total funding more than 80% higher than it had been in 2012.
Medtech accounted for the vast majority of that funding, taking $300 million of the $341 million investment dollars reported for the year, according to an analysis issued by LifeScience Alley.
The report included venture and angel investment for medtech, biotech, health IT, diagnostics and pharmaceuticals, painting a different picture from an earlier MoneyTree report that noted $269 million in investments for the year, according to the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal.
Medtronic lands anchoring patent
Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) was awarded a patent entitled "Anchor and anchor deployment apparatus," designed for "maintaining a portion of a therapy delivery element within a desired location of a patient."
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Minimally invasive pancreatic surgery on the rise
University of California researchers report that rates of minimally invasive surgery for pancreatic disease have increased 3-fold from 1998 to 2009.
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Spinal cord injuries may increase sleep apnea risk
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine urges physicians to assess spinal cord injury patients for sleep apnea, reporting that 77% of spinal cord injury survivors had symptomatic sleep-disordered breathing and 92% had poor sleep quality.
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