• Boston Scientific (Natick, Massachusetts) said that results of its defibrillator lead study, known as REFLEx, were published in the January issue of the journal PACE. The study compared the company’s Endotak Reliance G Gore-coated leads to non-coated leads. Reliance G leads have a Gore ePTFE coating designed to prevent tissue ingrowth. Tissue in-growth can make lead removal more difficult. Medical literature suggests up to 10 percent of leads may eventually need to be removed. A lead is an insulated wire that carries cardiac signals to the implanted device and also delivers energy from the device to the heart. In most cases, leads are passed into the heart through veins.

• CollaborateMD (Orlando, Florida) reported the introduction of CollaborateEMR, an Internet-based electronic medical record (EMR) software. The new service was developed in partnership with Sevocity, a division of Conceptual MindWorks (San Antonio, Texas), and will be integrated with CollaborateMD’s practice management solution. An Internet-based EMR solution, Sevocity eliminates the expensive upfront capital expenditures and ongoing maintenance costs associated with client/server offerings. CollaborateMD provides Internet medical billing software for physician offices and medical billing services.

• Cylex (Columbia, Maryland) reported the publication of an independent, peer-reviewed, clinical research study in which the level of cellular immune response measured prior to kidney transplantation using the company’s ImmuKnow immune cell function test was found to identify patients that may be at risk for early acute transplant rejection and unstable kidney function in the first three months following transplantation. Cylex’s ImmuKnow immune cell function assay detects cell-mediated immunity by measuring the concentration of ATP from CD4+ cells following stimulation. The assay is used for the detection of cell-mediated immunity in an immunosuppressed population. Cylex is a life science company that develops and manufactures research and in vitro diagnostic products that are intended to illuminate immunity.

• Kinetic Concepts (KCI; San Antonio) reported final efficacy results of a randomized controlled clinical trial on the clinical efficacy of KCI’s VAC. system negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT), compared to advanced moist wound therapy (AMWT) to treat diabetic patients with foot ulcers. The study, which showed that VAC. Therapy is more efficacious than AMWT in the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers, will be published in the April 2008 issue of Diabetes Care, the peer-reviewed journal of the American Diabetes Association (Alexandria, Virginia). A greater proportion of foot ulcers achieved complete ulcer closure with VAC. Therapy versus AMWT; Time to wound closure was less with VAC. Therapy than with AMWT; Patients on VAC Therapy experienced significantly fewer amputations. “Chronic diabetic foot ulcers present a significant challenge to treating physicians,” said Peter Blume, MD, of the North American Center for Limb Preservation and principal investigator for the study. He said that the use of VAC, “in concurrence with debridement of the wound increased the number of diabetic foot ulcers healed, and decreased the number of amputations as compared to AMWT.”