A Medical Device Daily

Global consulting company Frost & Sullivan (F&S) says cardiology PACS (picture archiving and communications systems) adoption in Australia “will gain momentum” in the next few years.

The F&S report, “Australia Cardiology PACS Market,” said that although factors such as cost of the solution and limited awareness are acting as roadblocks at present, “a conscious effort by the solution providers to educate users and the role of information technology in making cardiology workflow more patient-centric and efficient will drive the future growth of this market.”

The report indicates that the market was worth A$9.2 million ($7.5 million) in 2006 and estimates it to reach A$15.8 million ($12.9 million) in 2010, growing at an annual rate of some 14.5%.

An aging of population and the increasing incidence of cardiovascular disease will cause a substantial increase in the number of cardiac imaging procedures, the report said, and there will be “a need to improve efficiency and reduce operating costs by providing better imaging techniques, faster and easier post-processing and archiving, extensive accessibility to reviewing, reporting and maximum integration with the hospital enterprise.”

Consulting analyst Sourabh Kankhar, affiliated with the company’s Sydney office, said, “The demand for higher efficiency in the cardiology workflow is driving the need for cardiology PACS solutions. With the number of cardiac imaging procedures growing each year, cardiologists, cardiac radiographers and technicians will demand access to digitally stored images.”

Although awareness about the benefits of image management solutions is increasing in radiology departments, he said awareness is still low among the key users of these solutions in the cardiology department. “Cardiologists, cardiac radiographers and technicians have a low awareness about the functionality, applications and price of image management and workflow management solutions for the cardiology department.”

Therefore, he said, “cardiology PACS providers have to educate cardiologists, cardiac radiographers and technicians that implementation of an image management solution helps the cardiology department to streamline workflow, expedite and improve the delivery of patient care, and use resources more efficiently.”

$1.5 million grant to China Sky One

China Sky One Medical (Harbin, China), a manufacturer and distributor of pharmaceutical, medicinal and diagnostic products in China, said it has won a bidding process organized by the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology for a $1.5 million grant to further develop its six Early-Stage Cancer Diagnostic Kit project.

The six products, which will enter clinical trials in the first half of 2008, were created by First Bio-Engineering, a wholly-owned subsidiary.

The company will receive a total grant of $1.5 million over two years, 60% of which was received last month and 40% of which will be received in the beginning of 2008.

The grant will support China Sky One’s research and development efforts on the six products. The clinical trials that will begin next year will test sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of the products.

Upon commercial launch, the test kits will be used for the fast screening and supplementary clinical diagnosis for various cancers, including the Colloidal Gold Rapid Diagnosis Reagent Kit for each of lung, stomach, intestinal, liver, pancreatic and ovarian cancers.

CEO and President Yanqing Liu said, “This project aims to develop cancer diagnosis techniques and provide them to domestic hospitals at an affordable cost. This again speaks to our commitment to enhancing the overall health of [the] Chinese people.”

Acquisition boosts EMS capabilities

Flextronics International (Singapore) has completed its acquisition of Solectron, creating what it termed “the most diversified and premier global provider of advanced design and vertically integrated electronics manufacturing services.”

Flextronics said that by adding Solectron’s resources and skill sets, it now provides more value to customers by leveraging the combined global economies of scale in manufacturing, logistics, procurement, design, engineering and other services along an even broader selection of products.

Operating in 35 countries, with a workforce of about 200,000, including some 3,500 design engineers, the combined company’s annual revenues exceeds $30 billion across seven diversified customer market segments and four major business units.

Flextronics CEO Mike McNamara said, “Solectron is an extremely important strategic addition to Flextronics and this combination transforms the landscape of our industry. By joining forces, our increased scale enables us to extend our market segment reach, increase our vertical integration opportunities and better serve the needs of our combined customers, employees and shareholders.”

Flextronics paid about $1.07 billion in cash and issued some 221.8 million Flextronics ordinary shares to effect the merger.

Korea, China distributors for Cytori

Cytori Therapeutics (San Diego) said it has expanded its Asia-Pacific distribution network for the Celution system in reconstructive surgery with the addition of Olympus Digital Networks Korea (ODNK) to cover South Korea and Shanghai Cosmo Medical Products (SCMP) to cover China.

The new distributors will guide and support regulatory clearances, oversee product sales, and provide physician education and training in their respective territories, Cytori said.

“Asia-Pacific represents an important and growing reconstructive surgery market for Cytori,” said CEO Christopher Calhoun. “Aligning ourselves with ODNK expands upon, and reflects the growth in, our partnership with Olympus Corp. (Toyko). In addition, we look forward to benefiting from SCMP’s existing leadership in the reconstructive surgery market in China.”

“We are pleased to be partnered with Cytori for the commercialization of their Celution system,” said Il-Seok Bang, president of ODNK. “Regenerative medicine is an emerging field with a tremendous market opportunity in reconstructive surgery, where we believe there will be significant patient demand.”

The Celution system removes a patient’s own regenerative cells from their adipose tissue in about an hour.