A Medical Device Daily

The Center for Wound Healing (CFWH; Tarrytown, New York), an operator of wound care treatment centers that offer hyperbaric oxygen therapy and other such treatments, reported a $17.5 million investment by Bison Capital Equity Partners II.

Douglas Trussler, a partner at Bison Capital, said, "We are extremely impressed with The Center for Wound Healing's track record in operating wound care centers of excellence. Through our investment, The Center for Wound Healing will be able to expand the number of centers it develops and operates, furthering the tremendous benefit it provides to its hospital partners and their patients."

"Eighty percent of the patients treated in the company's comprehensive wound care centers are diabetic. Bison has provided us with substantial long-term capital that will allow us to continue our expansion and provide superb care to this important demographic," said company CEO Andrew Barnett.

CFWH manages 36 wound care centers in the eastern U.S., in partnership with local acute care hospitals. CFWH was founded by physicians in 1997 to establish in-hospital centers to treat the growing incidence of severe-grade diabetic wounds of the lower extremities and wounds unresponsive to general wound care treatments.

PSS World Medical (Jacksonville, Florida) reported board authorization of the purchase of up to 5% of its outstanding common shares. The company can repurchase, depending on current market conditions, up to 5% of its total common stock, about 3.1 million common shares, in the open market, privately negotiated transactions, and other transactions.

The authorization is in addition to any shares remaining available under existing repurchase programs. As of April 2, the company had about 61.9 million total issued and outstanding common shares.

PSS is a national distributor of medical products to physicians and eldercare providers.

In other financings news:

• Ophthalmic Imaging Systems (OIS; Sacramento, California) reported board authorization to repurchase up to 1 million shares of company common stock.

Gil Allon, CEO of OIS, said, "[S]everal exciting initiatives [are] underway which we believe will enhance our business and drive future growth. This includes the acquisition of a proprietary informatics platform and simultaneous launch of a new subsidiary, Abraxas Medical Solutions (Irvine, California). Through Abraxas, OIS will develop and market informatics solutions for physician clinics in a wider variety of specialties. Our long-term business performance and share repurchase program illustrate our commitment to increasing shareholder value."

The company said that the repurchases will be funded from working capital, with the program reevaluated after the first $100,000 is invested. Any shares repurchased under the program will be returned to the state of authorized but unissued shares of common stock.

OIS is a subsidiary of MediVision (Houston), a provider of ophthalmic digital imaging systems.

• Biofield (King of Prussia, Pennsylvania), filed a preliminary information statement with the SEC on April 2, reporting authorization of the amendment of the company's articles of incorporation to effect a 1-for-10 reverse split of the company's common stock.

The board believes that the proposed reverse stock split will benefit the company by increasing the per-share price of its common stock, a factor in whether the common stock meets investing guidelines for certain institutional investors and investment funds, the company said.

Biofield develops non-invasive diagnostic medical devices to assist in detecting breast cancer.