Medical Device Daily Contributing Editor And MDDs

Barco (Kortrijk, Belgium), a provider of medical imaging solutions, said it plans to partner with Medicsight (London) to integrate the UK firm’s Colon CAD image-analysis software tools into Barco’s Voxar 3D ColonMetrix virtually colonography application.

In June, Barco received 510(k) clearance from the FDA for its Voxar 3D advanced visualization suite with image recognition software that allows radiologists to rapidly interpret a CT colonography study and generate a report.

The image-analysis software developed by Medicsight is used for virtual colonography scans to detect and segment abnormalities within the colon, such as adenomatous polyps. The computer-assisted detection capability of ColonCAD is expected to further enhance the functionality of Barco’s colonography application.

The report of the partnership with Barco follows fast on the heels of Medicsight’s demonstration in June with Viatronix (Stony Brook, New York) of mits detection software at the annual meeting of the European Society of Gastronintestinal and Abdominal Radiology in Lisbon, Portugal.

The Viatronix V3D-Colon integrated with Medicsight’s CAD system for performing virtual colonography has received the CE mark and was released in European countries in July.

Piet Candeel, senior VP of Barco’s Medical Imaging Division, said the integration of his company’s and Medicsight’s software capabilities “will bring an effective answer to the ever-increasing reliance on virtual colonoscopy with CAD.”

Barco reported 2006 sales of 1751 million ($1.1 billion).

Dialysis leader Fresenius raises 2007 outlook

Fresenius Medical Care (Bad Homburg, Germany) reported 8% organic growth for the first half of 2007 and raised its outlook for the full year by 12% to $9.5 billion.

A global leader in dialysis products and services, Fresenius increased net income in the first half by 38%, reaching $339 million on net revenues of $4.7 billion, a 21% increase.

Based on the strong operational performance in the first two quarters, the company raised its outlook for the year as a whole, and it now expects to achieve revenues of more than $9.5 billion, up from the previously projected $9.4 billion.

Net income now is projected to be between 19% and 23% higher, up to $705 million.

A one-to-three share split became effective in June.

Fresenius reported last month the acquisition of a production plant in Jiangsu, China, significantly boosting production capabilities for bloodlines and other non-reusable products not only for the Chinese market, but also for other countries in the region.

“We readjusted our service portfolio, focusing on profitability, and expanded our product base in Asia-Pacific,” said CEO Ben Lipps, adding, “this reflects our confidence in the further potential growth of our company, particularly in the international region.”

The most vigorous area of the company’s organic growth came from the consolidated results of the international sector, which includes Asia.

Revenue gains came from strong sales of hemodialysis machines, peritoneal dialysis products and dialyzers, Fresenius said.

The International sector reported an increase of 17% for patients under treatment to 51,417, and a like percentage gain in the number of clinics. The sector delivered 3.92 million treatments, likewise a 17% gain over the year-earlier figure.

North American operations continue to account for nearly 70% of the company’s activity, with more than 122,000 paients under treatment. Though the number of pastients ncreased by just 2%, the number of treatments grew by 16% to 9 million.

Fresenius shed its U.S. perfusion business as of the beginning of May, selling it to Specialty Care Services Group.

British study eyes diabetes prevention

Family lifestyles and their impact on the health of individual family members will be the focus of a new approach to preventing diabetes. In the first study of its kind in Britain, researchers from the University of Edinburgh and the University of Glasgow will test whether involving whole families in weight loss and fitness initiatives is effective in preventing the development of Type 2 diabetes among high-risk family members. The £1 million Prevention of Diabetes and Obesity in South Asians (PODOSA) study will focus specifically on people of Indian and Pakistani origin, who are five times more likely to develop late-onset diabetes than the rest of the population.

Researchers will look particularly at families with at least one member who has a high risk of diabetes, possibly because they are overweight or do little exercise. The study, which is currently recruiting participants living in Edinburgh and Glasgow, will encourage all family members to adopt a healthy lifestyle with the aim that this motivates and supports those individuals at risk. The study is funded by the National Prevention Research Initiative (London) and aims to recruit 300 families. Dieticians will visit them in their homes over the next three years and provide what is termed “culturally-specific” advice on nutrition and exercise. Researchers hope to reduce the incidence of Type 2 diabetes by 50%, and said they believe that by focusing on high-risk families, they will find strategies that can be applied more widely. Project leader Raj Bhopal, professor of public health at the University of Edinburgh, said, “Diabetes is increasing rapidly as we get more obese and less active. If we don’t take urgent action, it will spread in epidemic proportions.”

Bhopal said such a family-based approach has never been tested before, “but by involving the siblings and parents of at-risk individuals, we hope to provide a motivational and supportive strategy that could prevent diabetes not only in the UK, but on a global scale.” Diabetes currently affects an estimated 2 million people in the UK, of whom 90% have Type 2, or late-onset, diabetes that can lead to heart disease, stroke and blindness.