• Ethicon Endo-Surgery (Cincinnati) reported submitting a premarket approval application with the FDA for its adjustable gastric band, an implantable device intended to treat morbid obesity. The device is a soft, adjustable band that is fitted around the uppermost part of the stomach during laparoscopic surgery, creating a small pouch and restricting food consumption. Ethicon Endo-Surgery, a J&J company, makes devices for minimally invasive and open surgical procedures.

• Millipore (Billerica, Massachusetts) reported the availability of the new BioPak C disposable ultrafiltration cartridge. This in-line cartridge is designed to minimize alkaline phosphatase (ALP) released by bacteria that may be present in immunoassay and clinical analyzer feed water used to prepare buffers, make blanks and rinse tubing and probes. The cartridge is delivered decontaminated by beta irradiation at 15 kGy and can be stored for two years before usage. The filter allows flow rates up to 3 L/min at 1.5 bar and ensures up to 120 days of continuous operation. Millipore specializes in improving productivity in laboratory research and bioprocessing manufacturing.

• Masimo (Irvine, California) reported that three new independent studies concluded that Masimo acoustic respiratory monitoring technology (ARM) is "at least as accurate as capnometry" and "significantly more reliable" for monitoring respiration in spontaneously breathing patients." The study released at the recent IARS showed that "premature cannula dislodgement occurred in 14 patients [treated with ARM]" in less that 20 minutes, while "in no patient was the bioacoustic sensor dislodged before the end of the stay in the PACU." Two studies released in January at the 2007 Society for Technology in Anesthesiology annual meeting, concluded that Masimo's new bioacoustic respiratory sensor "demonstrates accuracy for respiratory rate monitoring as good as capnometry" and that the device "offers multiple benefits over existing devices and has a potential to improve monitoring in a general care setting." Masimo makes monitoring products.

• MedicalCV (Minneapolis) reported that Allen Raczkowski, MD, the director of robotic cardiac surgery at Banner Baywood Health Systems (Mesa, Arizona), performed a closed-chest, robotic, lone cardiac ablation procedure on an arrested heart using the Atrilaze surgical ablation system. The system is a laser-based technology platform to provide cardiac tissue ablation in both open and endoscopic surgeries. MedicalCV makes surgical ablation systems that utilize a laser energy technology platform to create precise lesions, or scars, on soft and cardiac tissue.

• MicroVention (Aliso Viejo, California) said that that the 500th and final patient has been enrolled in the independent, physician-designed and -managed, international trial of its HydroCoil embolization system for treating cerebral aneurysms. The trial, titled HydroCoil endovascular aneurysm occlusion and packing study (HELPS), compares the results derived from the HydroCoil system to results from approved bare platinum coils, currently considered the mainstay of endovascular aneurysm therapy. MicroVention makes minimally invasive treatments for cerebral and peripheral vascular diseases.