• Advanced Bio-Surfaces (ABS; Minneapolis) reported the availability of OrthoGlide Medial Knee Implant initial clinical data. Data representing the first complete year of enrollment in the OrthoGlide clinical study was presented at the American College of Rheumatology's annual meeting in Boston. The data was presented by William Arnold, MD, Medical Director for ABS. "The OrthoGlide prospective clinical study has enrolled 92 patients with osteoarthritis of the medial compartment that met the inclusion criteria," said Arnold. "These patients would have been candidates for an invasive total knee replacement procedure." ABS is a privately held company dedicated to the development of joint restoration products.
  • Anthro (Portland, Oregon) reported the introduction the new Carl's Table, Model CT08 — radiology furniture for reading soft copy and for teleradiology applications. The CT08 is an ergonomic desk with motorized height movement and increased leg speed for quick adjustment from 28.5" to 48.5". The tilt adjustment facilitates all individual work positions, sitting or standing. The tilting surface supports the forearm and shoulders, dramatically decreasing the risk of musculoskeletal disorders. CT08 also has ninety-nine memory presets for multiple users. It can hold up to four monitors on arms, it has a Monitor Positioning System that electronically moves the monitors with the push of a button. Monitors are mounted to a rail and actuators control the up/down and in/out action. Anthro makes furniture for high-tech equipment.
  • ATS Medical (Minneapolis) said that 47 patients have now undergone aortic valve replacement with its sutureless ATS 3f Enable aortic bioprosthesis at seven investigative sites in Europe within both the feasibility and pivotal clinical trial phases. Currently, eight patients have surpassed the two-year implant duration. The ATS 3f is designed to eliminate the traditional suturing required to replace a patient's diseased aortic heart valve. If suturing can be eliminated from the procedure, surgeons can potentially reduce procedure time and offer less invasive options for the treatment of aortic valve disease. In addition, the elimination of suturing offers the potential to significantly improve valve related hemodynamics by allowing the surgeon to provide a replacement valve of a size larger than what is traditionally possible with conventionally sutured heart valves. ATS makes cardiac surgery products.
  • Osiris Therapeutics (Columbia, Maryland) reported positive one-year interim results in the evaluation of Chondrogen, a preparation of adult stem cells formulated for direct injection into the knee. The one-year data showed improvement in joint condition that correlated with a clinically and statistically significant improvement in pain in patients with osteoarthritis (OA) who received Chondrogen as compared to those treated with the control, hyaluronic acid. Chondrogen is a preparation of mesenchymal stem cells specifically formulated for direct injection into the knee. The stem cells are obtained from the bone marrow of healthy adult donors. Chondrogen is currently being evaluated in a double-blind, controlled Phase I/II study for the treatment of arthritis of the knee in the setting of meniscectomy. Osiris Therapeutics is a stem cell therapeutic company focused on making products to treat medical conditions in the inflammatory, orthopedic and cardiovascular areas.