CardioDynamics (San Diego) reported that the company's BioZ Dx now seamlessly integrates with the Centricity electronic medical record (EMR) system from General Electric Healthcare (Waukesha, Wisconsin). The company released its latest version of BioZport ICG data management software which includes capabilities to automatically integrate and transfer BioZ ICG data from the BioZ Dx to the Centricity EMR. The company said that this is an advancement for its product as EMR interface and paperless workflow are necessary for the outpatient physician making decisions on new medical technologies. CardioDynamics makes therapies to treat cardiovascular disease.

GE Healthcare (Waukesha, Wisconsin) reported release of a new pre-clinical computed tomography (CT) scanner designed to accelerate research for cardiovascular disease and drug development. The GE eXplore CT 120 scanner uses X-ray-source technology derived from clinical systems, the company saying that it features 100 times the output of previous GE laboratory research imaging systems and enables X-ray exposures fast enough and detailed enough to capture the motion of a beating mouse heart. This thus brings cardiac CT imaging to an animal often used in disease research and drug development. The scanner features industry-standard DICOM compatibility and an optional analysis workstation to assist in image analysis and production of research data, according to the company.

OmniGuide (Cambridge, Massachusetts) reported the recent presentation of results of a study comparing three treatment options — external surgical excision, line-of-sight CO₂ laser and its BeamPath flexible CO₂ laser fiber. Thirty pediatric patients, average age 3, underwent procedures to remove suprastomal tracheal fibromas in their windpipe. The study compared operating-room time, hospitalization time, need for follow-up procedures, and the success rate of immediate post-operative removal of a tracheal tube, a process called decannulation. Jerome Thompson, MD, study leader and chairman of the Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery at University of Tennessee Health Science Center, presented the results at the Combined Otolaryngology Spring Meetings in Orlando, Florida. He said that the pediatric suprastomal fibroma study "demonstrated that the use of a flexible CO₂ laser fiber improves quality of care and clinical outcomes on several levels. The rate of immediate removal of the tracheal tube was four times greater in the flexible fiber group than the external excision group and two times greater than the line-of-sight CO₂ laser group." OmniGuide is a developer of precision optical scalpels for minimally invasive surgery.

Terumo Heart (Ann Arbor, Michigan) reported implantation of the DuraHeart, a magnetic-levitation (maglev) heart assist device. The maglev approach, the company said, means that a crucial, constantly revolving part within the hockey puck-sized implanted device never touches the walls of the pumping chamber. To implant the DuraHeart, the surgeon diverts blood flow from the diseased left ventricle of the heart into a titanium tube that leads into the pumping chamber. The magnetically levitating impeller, a flat magnetic disc, acts as a paddlewheel, turning constantly as it is magnetically attracted to the turning motor within the pump housing. This pushes blood into a flexible artificial blood vessel, which is connected to the ascending aorta. Terumo Heart specializes in cardiac assistance products.

Vyteris (Fair Lawn, New Jersey) reported an pain management initiative to identify and target candidate drugs for pain management that could potentially be delivered using Vyteris' active patch transdermal system. Vyteris will examine candidate drugs to improve their safety and efficacy profiles using its controlled drug delivery technology and to potentially extend their patent protection. The initiative will include efforts to secure joint development agreements with drug manufacturers for in vitro and in vivo testing of pain medication compounds. Products under investigation for possible use include opioids, narcotic analgesics and anesthetics. Vyteris' transdermal drug delivery technology delivers drugs through the skin using low-level electrical energy (iontophoresis).