• ExonHit Therapeutics (Paris) reported that AclarusDx Alzheimer's test (formerly known as EHT Dx21), its blood-based test for the detection of Alzheimer's disease (AD), is now available as a Research Use Only (RUO) product for pharmaceutical companies and leading academic centers conducting clinical trials in Alzheimer's disease. AclarusDx Alzheimer's test is a reproducible, objective, and non invasive test. A blood sample is all that is required from the patient, no special equipment or medical facilities are required and the ease of the procedure should enhance volunteers' willingness to participate in trials. When used in combination with neuro-cognitive tests, AclarusDx Alzheimer's test could help pharmaceutical companies running clinical trials to include patients fulfilling clinical criteria for AD and who share a common transcriptional profile that has been correlated to AD. Hence, AclarusDx Alzheimer's test could lower the trial's "background noise" and potentially lead to a better study outcome by selecting a more homogeneous study population.

• MAKO Surgical (Ft. Lauderdale, Florida) reported the commercial availability of the Lateral Unicompartmental Knee Resurfacing Application for its RIO Robotic Arm Interactive Orthopedic System. The new application complements MAKO's existing unicompartmental and bicompartmental knee applications targeting the medial and patellofemoral compartments. The RIO is a surgeon-interactive tactile surgical platform that incorporates a robotic arm and patient-specific visualization technology and prepares the knee joint for the insertion and alignment of MAKO's resurfacing Restoris implants through a minimal incision.

• Orthofix International (Boston) reported that its sports medicine division, BREG, has expanded its successful line of Fusion functional knee braces by introducing the Fusion Lateral OA Brace, which features an ultra-thin low-profile hinge designed for individuals suffering from lateral compartment osteoarthritis (OA). The Fusion Lateral OA Brace was developed to off-load knee stress for individuals suffering with osteoarthritis, and the low-profile hinge is designed to reduce interference during the wearer's movement specifically on the inside, or medial, part of the knee. As the newest member of the Breg family of Fusion functional knee braces, the new Lateral OA Brace is designed to provide support for the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and posterior cruciate ligament (PCL), as well as protection for collateral ligaments, without hindering the wearer's activity.

• Revolutions Medical (Charleston, South Carolina) producers of the RevVac safety syringe, RevColor, RevDisplay and Rev3D MRI Technology, reported that it introduced its proprietary suite of MRI software products with great success. Radiologists and universities world-wide received presentations at the RMCP booth. A number of these contacts could play an important role in the company's ongoing efforts to clinically validate specific applications of its MRI tools prior to the 2010 commercial launch.

• Stentys (Princeton, New Jersey) reported that the first patient has been enrolled into the APPOSITION II clinical study a randomized trial comparing the Stentys self-expanding stent with a conventional balloon-expandable stent in AMI patients. The primary endpoint of the APPOSITION II study is stent strut apposition at day three post-procedure via extremely high-resolution optical coherence tomography imaging. The self-expanding feature of the Stentys platform, unrivaled in the stent industry, is designed to insure optimal apposition of a stent in the critical initial hours and days after an AMI procedure, by being continuously applied to the vessel's internal surface even during thrombus and vessel spasm relief thereby avoiding malapposition, a significant concern to cardiologists.