• A five-year study confirms the long-term strength and durability of the Biodesign Hernia Graft, Cook Medical (Bloomington Indiana), reported. The study, the largest published series with the longest follow-up time for a biologic mesh used in hernia repair, demonstrated that the Biodesign Hernia Graft possesses the clinically important strength of non-absorbable mesh, while providing the benefit of decreased infection complications of absorbable mesh. Manufactured in the Cook Biotech facility in West Lafayette, Indiana., Biodesign is a breakthrough technology that provides signals and support for the body to restore itself. It incorporates the best attributes of a biologic graft – complete remodeling and resistance to infection – yet it's easy to use, widely available and moderately priced.

• HealthPort (Alpharetta, Georgia), a healthcare information technology company, reported a new feature within its Revenue Cycle Management solution, ROI-QuickLink. ROI-QuickLink expedites medical record processing for denied claims and other inter-departmental requests. The new feature reduces delays and hastens revenue recovery by making it easier for ancillary personnel to request and process records, including those as part of the recovery audit contractor program. ROI-QuickLink is particularly valuable for claims recovery teams as they communicate with health information management for release-of-information requests and recover denied claims.

• HemCon (Portland Oregon) results from an independent study investigating the time required to treat fungal infected human nails, which is a leading cause of Onychomycosis, the most common type of fungal nail infection. The studies were conducted as part of HemCon's continued program of development for a formulation based on its newest proprietary Mycosinat platform technology. The Onychomycosis treatment, Mycosinate (formerly known as compound A31S), is available for commercial license and provides a controlled release broad spectrum antimicrobial agent to fight infection. The independent testing of Mycosinate for the treatment of Onychomycosis was performed using fungal infected human nails under conditions that simulate the clinical situation. This system tests the formulations ability to penetrate the nail and kill the T. rubrum fungal infection on human nails over a period of time.

• Masimo (Irvine, California) said it has initiated the full market release of its new noninvasive and continuous hemoglobin (SpHb) monitoring technology. SpHb is part of the Masimo Rainbow SET Pulse CO-Oximetry patient monitoring platform — the first and only upgradable technology platform capable of continuously and noninvasively measuring multiple blood constituents and helping to predict fluid responsiveness in patients previously requiring invasive procedures. Masimo said Rainbow SET noninvasive measurements – including: total hemoglobin (SpHb), oxygen content (SpOC), carboxyhemoglobin (SpCO), methemoglobin (SpMet), PVI, oxyhemoglobin (SpO²), pulse rate (PR), and perfusion index (PI) – have the potential to facilitate faster, easier and safer health decisions.

• NovaLign Orthopaedics (Memphis, Tennessee) received FDA clearance to market its Intramedullary Fixation System, a new system of implants and instruments for the treatment of long bone fractures, including the humerus, tibia and femur. "The NovaLign extra-capsular intramedullary device allows a surgeon to repair a long bone fracture without violating the nearby joint space," said James Stannard, MD, professor of surgery at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. By entering the medullary canal from outside of the joint, NovaLign's goal is to avoid damage to the surrounding tissue thereby minimizing the complications that may be experienced with traditional surgical techniques.

• ONI Medical Systems (Wilmington, Massachusetts) reported the first installations of the new MSK Extreme 1.5T highfield dedicated musculoskeletal MRI systems ONI claims the performance of the MSK Extreme 1.5T's gradient system exceeds that of any clinical MRI today. Its 70 m/Tm gradient strength with slew rate of 200 T/m/s achieves a new level of visualization of articular cartilage and detail resolution resulting in exceptional image quality. "The ONI MSK Extreme 1.5T delivers images with high spatial resolution of small structures within the hand and wrist which are superior to most whole body MRI systems," said Douglas Goodwin, MD, director of musculoskeletal radiology, at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (Lebanon, New Hampshire).