Karl Storz relocates U.S. region headquarters

Karl Storz (Tuttlingen, Germany), a maker of minimally invasive endoscopic technology and operating room integration solutions, said that it has relocated its North America Region headquarters from Culver City, California, to nearby El Segundo as of March 16. The new location offers room for anticipated growth and establishes a permanent headquarters for the company's North America Region and U.S. subsidiary, Karl Storz Endoscopy-America.

Reach Call's telestroke service comes to Alaska

Reach Call (Augusta, Georgia) said that Providence Health & Services in Alaska will use its telestroke service in five facilities within the state.

"The citizens of Alaska now have a much greater chance of surviving and recovering from a stroke," said Sandeep Agate, Reach Call president/CEO. "The service eliminates geographical barriers and brings time-critical stroke care close to home where it belongs."

The Reach telestroke service enables neurologists to deliver urgent, specialized stroke consultations to physicians and nurses caring for acute stroke patients in rural emergency departments near a stroke specialty center known as a hub.

Prostate study reveals differential molecule

Researchers have determined that a molecule produced by the body's metabolism could be used to differentiate between benign prostate tissue vs. localized and metastatic prostate cancer. They also found that this molecule, known as sarcosine, may be associated with prostate cancer invasiveness and aggressiveness. The findings were supported by the National Cancer Institute's (NCI; Bethesda, Maryland) Early Detection Research Network (EDRN).

"Current biomarkers for detection or progression of prostate cancer are not as precise as we would like. Therefore, a more accurate indicator of cancer is of great interest," said Sudhir Srivastava, PhD, chief of NCI's Cancer Biomarkers Research Group. "Sarcosine and some other select metabolites may be excellent indicators of cancer progression."

To investigate the role of sarcosine in prostate cancer progression, the researchers performed analyses of laboratory-grown cells. They found that sarcosine levels were higher in invasive prostate cancer cells than in benign prostate cells. Moreover, the addition of sarcosine to benign prostate cells caused them to become invasive. By manipulating levels of the enzymes that regulate sarcosine metabolism, the researchers found they were able to control the invasiveness of benign and malignant prostate cells.

Del Global Technologies to move HQ

Del Global Technologies (Franklin Park, Illinois) said it will be moving the company's headquarters from Franklin Park to a new facility in Roselle, Illinois. The move will be completed in June.

Del's new headquarters, a 22,000-square-foot facility in the Turnberry Lakes Technology Park, will feature a digital showroom that will be used as a walk-through showcase of Del's most advanced digital equipment. Additionally, it will provide adequate space to accommodate their manufacturing, integration, training, technical support and administrative activities.

Del Global Technologies makes diagnostic imaging systems for medical, dental and veterinary applications through the Del Medical Systems Group.

Orthofix opposes Feld nomination to board

Orthofix International (Boston) said it sent a letter to its shareholders opposing the proposal being made by Ramius to nominate Peter Feld to the company's board at a special meeting of shareholders scheduled for April 2.

The opening of the letter is as follows:

"Dear fellow Orthofix shareholder: As you know, Orthofix will hold a Special Meeting of Shareholders on April 2, 2009. The purpose of this meeting is to consider a number of proposals put forward by Ramius, an activist hedge fund. One of Ramius' proposals involves their nomination of Peter Feld to replace a current member of Orthofix's board of directors. In our previous communications we have expressed legitimate concerns about Ramius' nomination of Feld, yet they continue to promote him as a candidate while ignoring our repeated offers to interview two of their other nominees, Charles Orsatti and J. Michael Egan. Instead of addressing our concerns about Feld's lack of qualifications and experience, which are based on publicly available facts, Ramius characterizes them as "baseless accusations." We want you to have the facts about Feld and Ramius itself."

U.S. peripheral vascular market to grow to $4.7B

According to iData Research (Vancouver, British Columbia), a medical device & dental market research firm, an estimated 10 million people in the U.S. suffer from lower-limb Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD), with less than 20% of these diagnosed by a physician. As early detection increases and more patients seek treatment, the U.S. market for peripheral vascular treatment will grow to an estimated $4.7 billion by 2015.

PAD is the formation of plaque in arterial blood vessels of the outer circulatory system. This causes damage to the arterial wall, which increases the risk of stroke. In 2008, over 4 million individuals in the U.S. had symptoms indicative of PAD, such as persistent leg cramping, numbness, fatigue and severe pain.

In 2008, the largest segment in the U.S. market for peripheral vascular devices was for stents, which represented 28.7% of the overall treatment market. The stent market will grow at double digit rates through 2015, led by an increase in early diagnoses. The U.S. government and the medical community have taken an active role in improving awareness of PAD among physicians and the general population.