• Baxa (Englewood, Colorado) reported its launch of the PadLock set saver, an aseptic IV administration set storage solution that can be swabbed and re-used. PadLock provides a secure seal for the end of the administration set, preventing contamination when the set is not being used for infusion. The set saver attaches to an IV administration set and replaces the need for sterile, single-use caps. The PadLock device is designed to promote best practice for aseptic IV administration set disconnections, preventing touch contamination and securing the IV line in between drug administrations. The set saver also eliminates the use of IV administration set caps, which are a known choking hazard. Baxa specializes in safe handling and packaging of fluid medications.

• Broncus Technologies (Mountain View, California) said that the results of its open-label Exhale drug-eluting stent feasibility study have been published in the October issue of the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. Positive results include a statistically significant reduction in the amount of air trapped in the lungs and an improvement in breathing for patients at six months after the airway bypass procedure. Airway bypass is a catheter-based bronchoscopic procedure designed to reduce lung hyperinflation and improve breathlessness (the clinical hallmarks of emphysema/COPD) by making new pathways for trapped air to exit the lungs. During the minimally invasive procedure, new openings are created in the airway wall connecting the damaged lung tissue to the natural airway. These pathways are supported and kept open by Exhale drug-eluting stents. The hope is to improve quality of life by relieving severe symptoms including shortness of breath and hyperinflation of the chest. Broncus makes products for the treatment of emphysema.

• PEAK Surgical (Palo Alto, California), reported results from a preclinical study evaluating its PEAK pulsed plasma technology in the healing of surgical incisions compared with standard electrosurgery and surgical scalpels. Results showed that the PEAK PlasmaBlade, which uses pulsed plasma energy to create surgical incisions, efficiently cut tissue with minimal bleeding, tissue injury and scarring. PEAK surgical's flagship surgical system, the Pulsar surgery system, combines the pulsar generator, which provides unique pulsed plasma radiofrequency waveforms, with the PEAK PlasmaBlade, a highly insulated tissue dissection instrument, to enable precise cutting with bleeding control and minimal thermal damage. This technology provides the benefits of both traditional scalpel and electrosurgery approaches — enabling surgeons to cut soft tissue precisely with little damage to surrounding tissues and to control bleeding. PEAK Surgical makes radiofrequency tissue dissection instrumentation.

• OmniGuide (Cambridge, Massachusetts) reported the launch of its LightPath fiber for use in minimally-invasive surgical procedures. The fiber features a fine spot size down to 200 microns enabling surgeons to safely conduct more precise procedures in laryngology, head & neck surgery, neurotology, and skull base surgery. The LightPath product uses OmniGuide's "photonic bandgap" technology exclusive to all OmniGuide fibers. OmniGuide makes flexible CO2 laser fibers for precision surgery.