• Biotronik (Berlin) reported the launch of the Lumax 540 series, which includes implantable cardioverter defibrillators and a cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator. Together with Biotronik Home Monitoring, this enables continuous automatic daily data transmission of the patient's cardiovascular status. The information is available to the physicians online allowing them to continuously check their patients' cardiac and device status. Biotronik makes wireless monitoring technology.

• ikaSystems (Southborough, Massachusetts) has released a new offering for the Medicare market. ikaMedicareGateway allows payers to expedite and increase the accuracy of Medicare application processing, eligibility verification, and enrollment, membership and payment reconciliation through online functionality and real-time access to information from CMS' MARx database. The process begins with an online application portal, which members, brokers or administrative staff can use to start the enrollment cycle. Through ikaMedicareGateway, instant eligibility queries and beneficiary look-ups are performed against the MARx database. Responses are immediate, both ensuring the accuracy of the information supplied and pulling data from the database to populate the rest of the application, saving time for administrative staff. ikaSystems makes web-based technologies for healthcare payer organizations.

• Lantheus Medical Imaging (North Billerica, Massachusetts) presented Phase I data relating to the safety and tolerability in human subjects of BMS747158, its fluorine 18-labeled Positron Emission Tomography (PET) tracer for myocardial perfusion imaging. The preliminary clinical findings indicate that when used with PET technology, BMS747158 demonstrates a favorable radiation dosimetry profile and is generally well-tolerated. The Phase I clinical trial was designed to estimate radiation dosimetry of a single-dose of BMS747158 in healthy subjects at rest. Secondary objectives included assessing human safety, tolerability and biodistribution. Thirteen subjects were injected with 150-260 MBq of BMS747158 intravenously at UCLA Medical Center. Whole body imaging using PET technology was conducted for five hours to collect data for radiation dosimetry calculation. Extensive safety monitoring was conducted with clinical labs, ECG, EEG, neurological, heart rate and blood pressure assessment at several time points during the study. Lantheus specializes in diagnostic imaging.