A Diagnostics & Imaging Week

E-Z-EM (Lake Success, New York) said that the Tyco Healthcare Group, part of Tyco International (Pembroke, Bermuda), had filed a lawsuit against the company in the federal district court in Texas alleging patent infringement related to E-Z-EM’s Empower CT and Empower CTA injector systems. This lawsuit alleges infringement of a single U.S. patent concerning medical fluid injectors.

Commenting on the lawsuit, Anthony Lombardo, president/CEO of E-Z-EM, said, “The company respects the intellectual property rights of others and intends to vigorously defend against this action.”

E-Z-EM makes contrast agents for gastrointestinal radiology. The company is the developer of VoLumen—a patent-pending, next generation low density barium sulfate suspension for use as an oral contrast in Multidetector CT (MDCT) and Positron Emission Tomography (PET/CT) studies.

In other patent news: EterLink (Pleasanton, California) said that it received Patent No. 7,187,960 from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for “Apparatus and Method For Measuring Biologic Parameters” in connection with EterLink’s Brain Temperature Tunnel (BTT) technology.

The BTT provides a direct thermal pathway to the brain and was discovered by a physician and physicist, M. Marc Abreu, MD.

Several clinical studies validated the BTT technology for noninvasive monitoring of core body temperature, according to the company. Selected studies can be found at the American Society of Anesthesiology web site.

EterLink is a privately held technology company focused on the development and manufacturing of medical products and electronic devices. The company is developing a pipeline of products for medical professionals monitoring patient temperature, consumer temperature monitoring, automated vital signs monitoring stations, thermal management and therapy, medication management, and consumer electronics.