The Medical Device Business Journal — Medical Device News & Articles | MassDevice
MASSDEVICE ON CALL — The 2012 list of the world’s most ethical companies included a handful of medical device makers and group purchasing organizations, according to the research-based Ethisphere Institute.
MASSDEVICE ON CALL — As neuromodulation therapy celebrates its 25th year, Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) enrolled the 1st patient into its Medtronic Registry for Epilepsy, a database tracking the safety, efficacy and quality of life of patients receiving deep-brain stimulation for treatment of drug-resistant epilepsy.
MASSDEVICE ON CALL — A catheter-based procedure to close holes in patients’ hearts proved no better at preventing recurrent strokes than medication alone, according to a study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Researchers compared use of NMT Medical’s StarFlex septal closure system with drug therapy against drug therapy alone, concluding that there were no statistically significant differences in stroke prevention between the 2 options for patients with patent foremen ovale, a hole between the upper chambers of the heart.
MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Interventional cardiologist Dr. Geoffrey Hartzler, who pioneered angioplasty treatment for heart attack patients, died last weekend at the age of 65.
In 1981 Hartzler became the 1st to use percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty to treat a heart attack patient. He further refined the procedure, amid growing skepticism, and established angioplasty as the gold standard for treatment.
MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Masimo (NSDQ:MASI) nabbed light-emitting diode-maker Spire Semiconductor LLC for an undisclosed amount in a move aimed at cutting costs, speeding development and spurring innovation.
Spire’s advanced LED technology was spun into a wholly owned Hudson, N.H.-based subsidiary named Masimo Semiconductor, which will develop custom components for Masimo’s devices as well as for biomedical, telecommunications, consumer products and other markets, according to a press release.
MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Brain stimulation using electrical currents is a safe and effective depression therapy and may even have other surprise perks for the body, according to research conducted at the University of New South Wales.
More than half of all patients in what researchers called the largest and most definitive study of transcranial direct current stimulation experienced "substantial improvements" after getting the therapy, according to a press release.
Updated March 7, 2012, at 1:30 p.m. with comments from GE Healthcare.
MASSDEVICE ON CALL — GE Healthcare (NYSE: GE) announced another round of layoffs at its South Burlington, Vt., facility, a move it said is a result of declining demand for health care IT and performance solutions businesses.
The move is the "subsequent action" of layoffs numbering around 50 workers at the same facility last month, GE spokesman Corey Miller told MassDevice.
MASSDEVICE ON CALL — A modern insulin pump can be hacked from 300 feet away and told to deliver a lethal dose of insulin, a hacker and researcher for computer security giant McAfee proved.
Using a laptop and a custom-made antennae, Barnaby Jack’s software broke through the insulin pump’s security and altered its program to dump its contents, injected a potentially lethal dose of the hormone into a dummy pancreas used for demonstration purposes.
MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Complication rates for women with endometrial cancer were roughly the same after standard laparoscopy and robot-assisted surgery, although the robotic procedures each cost about $1,300 more, according to a study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
