• Fresenius Medical Care (Waltham, Massachusetts) has launched the KidneyTel system to provide an integrated care solution to assist patients, their families and their providers in managing the full range of health issues that kidney patients face on a daily basis. Fresenius claims the KidneyTel system will provide a key link in the creation of a "medical home" for the kidney patient, and will be an enabling technology for nephrologists and dialysis providers in establishing Accountable Care Organizations (ACO's) for the treatment of kidney patients. The KidneyTel system combines home telehealth monitoring device technology with an integrated care management program specifically tailored to the kidney patient. The system provides interactive daily contact and education with dialysis patients by monitoring health issues through a series of interactive questions on key health risk areas. It also collects daily vital signs of blood pressure, weight, and blood glucose. This information is transmitted each day to the KidneyTel IT system and call center. The KidneyTel clinical team is alerted to identified health risks and trends and can determine an appropriate response with patients and their families; while coordinating with their dialysis clinic, nephrologist, and other healthcare providers.

• LifeNet Health (Virginia Beach, Virginia) reported the first implant of a CardioGraft allograft cardiac patch product with MatrACELL decellularization technology. MatrACELL technology is a process to render allograft tissue acellular, removing more than 99% of the donor genetic material. It is well documented in the surgical literature that the donor cell component of cryopreserved cardiovascular tissue is the source of its three primary failure modes: calcification, stenosis and immunogenicity. MatrACELL technology is a methodology that is designed to safely remove donor cells from cardiovascular tissues while retaining the native biomechanical strength of the tissue.

• Orthomerica Products (Dallas) said it is taking its high-tech treatment for cranial remolding on the road with the company's new Mobile STAR Cranial Center of Excellence, a vehicle equipped with the company's STARscanner — a head shape scanning system that scans a child's head in seconds. The vehicle's scanner can be moved for use in satellite clinics wherever the unit travels, and the van is also equipped with the necessary tools to make adjustments to STARband cranial remolding helmets. Plagiocephaly, which is the flattening of one side of the head, can develop as a result of babies resting for prolonged periods in one position in an infant carrier or crib. It can also be acquired as a result of in utero positioning, common in cases of twins or multiple births. Following a referral from a pediatrician, neurosurgeon, or other specialist, infants with plagiocephaly or a related condition, such as brachycephaly or scaphocephaly, are evaluated by a practitioner at the STAR Cranial Center of Excellence, scanned with the STARscanner, and treated when necessary with a STARband cranial remolding orthosis. In cases where an infant's plagiocephaly is considered mild, or if the practitioner believes the infant is young enough, the practitioner may recommend that the patient be rescanned after several weeks of repositioning efforts to see if the infant's head shape improves without STARband treatment.

• Urovalve (Newark, New Jersey) reported the results of a feasibility study of the valve component of its Surinate bladder management system, designed to improve the quality of life of men who suffer from acute or chronic urinary retention, which is an inability to empty the bladder caused by obstruction of the urethra. The feasibility study was designed to evaluate whether the beta version of the Surinate valve is safe and functional in a real-use situation (i.e., when attached in line with a Foley catheter) and to provide information to guide the design of future clinical studies. This feasibility study was reviewed and approved by an Investigational Review Board for each of the investigational sites as a non-significant risk study. The target indication for the eventual marketed system will be for controlled urinary drainage in male subjects. However, the purpose of this study was to assess the performance only of the valve and not of the entire system.

• Wright Medical Group (Arlington, Tennessee) reported the launch of the Ortholoc Polyaxial Locked Plating System for surgical treatment of foot and ankle fractures. The system consists of three instrument and plating trays, each designed to help the surgeon stabilize and fixate bone injuries of either the forefoot, calcaneus, or ankle region. The implants, plates and screws are made of titanium, and all incorporate Wright's Ortholoc polyaxial locking technology. "Polyaxial locking" allows the surgeon to tailor the angle of screw placement into the plate for best anatomic fit and then "lock" the screw to the plate. Locked plating delivers the benefit of greater stability of the bone/plate construct over conventional non-locked plates.