AtriCure (West Chester, Ohio) said that its new disposable cryoablation system, Cryo1, received FDA 510(k) clearance for the cryosurgical treatment of cardiac arrhythmias. Additionally, the first patient was treated by Niv Ad, MD, chief of cardiac surgery at Inova Fairfax Hospital (Falls Church, Virginia) Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, using the Cryol system. The system has a long, malleable yet rigid design to achieve consistent contact, superior thermal dynamics and an active defrost mode which increases ease of use, according to AtriCure. In addition, the AtriCure Frigitronics CCS-200 console supports both the Cryo1 disposable probe and the line of reusable cryoablation probes.

Biotronik (Berlin) reported the global launch of its Biotronik Home Monitoring for patients with implantable cardiac devices. It is designed to ensure patient safety through earlier detection of serious arrhythmic events with the potential for reducing the number of clinic follow-up visits. Biotronik, says that its Home Monitoring system is based on more than eight years of experience in remote monitoring technology and research among both physicians and patients. The system is available across the entire product portfolio of pacemakers, ICDs and cardiac resynchronization therapy devices allowing physicians to remotely monitor their patients' clinical and device status at any time and from anywhere in the world.

Celsis International (Chicago) has launched Celsis ReACT, an RNA-based assay for detecting objectionable organisms quickly and definitively without the need for expensive equipment or specialized training. Manufacturers of pharmaceutical, beauty and home care products using Celsis Rapid Detection systems for their primary screening of raw materials, in-process and finished goods can use this RNA-based assay to obtain a two-hour result on samples that test positive for microbial contamination, according to Celsis.

DaVita (El Segundo, California), a provider of kidney care services for those with chronic kidney disease (CKD), has released the findings of a study revealing DaVita's IMPACT (Incident Management of Patients, Actions Centered on Treatment) pilot program can significantly reduce mortality rates for new dialysis patients. The study presented at the National Kidney Foundation's Spring Clinical Meeting, details how the IMPACT patient care model educates and manages dialysis patients within the first 90 days of treatment, when they are most unstable and at highest risk. Patient outcomes also improved. The pilot program was implemented with 606 patients completing the IMPACT program over a 12 month period in 44 DaVita centers around the nation.

McKesson (San Francisco) reported the availability of its Advanced Diagnostics Management (ADM) solution that connects payers, clinical laboratories and providers to help physicians order the most appropriate tests for the right cost at the point of care. ADM expands the RelayHealth network to allow providers to gain electronic access to labs' test catalogs and health plans' rules for eligibility, automatic pre-authorization, network coverage, and price estimation.

Molecular Insight Pharmaceuticals (Cambridge, Massachusetts) provided data on its Phase II clinical trial (BP-23) for Zemiva. In this trial, the combination of Zemiva imaging with initial clinical information resulted in improved sensitivity (85%) compared to the sensitivity of the initial clinical diagnosis alone (52.2%), while maintaining specificity. Zemiva is a molecular imaging radiopharmaceutical for detecting cardiac ischemia, the lack of sufficient blood flow to the heart.

Perot Systems (Plano, Texas) reported that it will offer service that will help hospitals achieve compliance with the guidelines for "meaningful use" found in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Perot Systems' new ARRA Readiness Assessment service offering is designed to help a hospital benchmark its processes and systems against new standards being established in response to the legislation.

PLC (Franklin, Massachusetts) said the first data from its pilot safety trial for RenalGuard will be presented in a poster session at the American College of Cardiology annual conference in Orlando. The trial, a first in-man study involving RenalGuard in the U.S., was designed to test the safety of the RenalGuard System when used to provide high-volume matched diuresis in patients at high risk for contrast-induced nephropathy undergoing angiography.