• Covidien (St. Louis) said that its imaging solutions business is launching the Optistar Elite contrast delivery system. The product is designed to inject contrast media-related drugs into a patient's vascular system to aid in obtaining diagnostic images when used with magnetic resonance (MR) imaging equipment. One of the features on the Optistar Elite injector is Patency Check, which aids in preventing extravasation, assists in reducing the potential of certain medical errors and helps enhance clinical and work flow efficiency. The Optistar Elite, combined with the use of Covidien's Ultraject prefilled syringes for contrast media-related drugs, can help decrease the risk of certain medication errors that may be caused by manually filling syringes. Covidien makes product lines in four segments: medical devices, imaging solutions, pharmaceutical products and medical supplies.

• Pinnacle Data Systems (Columbus, Ohio) reported general availability of its newest compact computing board, the COMX-S1 COM express module. This embedded computer-on-module (COM) features mobile AMD technologies, including single- and dual-core AMD Sempron processors and AMD Turion processors and the AMD M690 chipset. Designed to the industry standard known as COM express, the PDSi COMX-S1 module enables OEMs to bring to market their embedded solutions, including providing custom I/O requirements, without the difficulty of developing the complex core circuitry of the computer.

• Zeus Scientific (Raritan, New Jersey) said that it will offer a rapid nasal screening test for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), based upon the company's own technology, using the enrichment and nucleic acid amplification of a target pathogen. The new test will enable identification of the carriers of this pathogen within two hours. The company noted that studies have shown that time to results is critical in demonstrating a reduction in MRSA hospital infection rates. Zeus makes clinical diagnostics.