• Affymetrix (Santa Clara, California) reported commercial launch of its GeneChip HT Array Plate System, a microarray processing platform that analyzes up to 96 samples at a time. The company said that the HT Array Plates offer the same content as the traditional cartridges in a format designed for larger-scale studies. The automated system provides consistent microarray data for every experimental sample run, which reduces the need to reanalyze samples. The HT Array Plate System also helps ensure reproducible data for large-scale studies that are conducted in multiple laboratories. Compared to manual methods, the complete system reduces the overall required labor time by at least 40%, according to the company. Affymetrix develops products that provide researchers with a more complete view of the genome.

• Applied Spine Technologies (New Haven, Connecticut) reported that Triangle Orthopaedic Associates and the North Carolina Specialty Hospital (Durham, North Carolina) are the first in the U.S. to use the company's Stabilimax NZ Dynamic Spine Stabilization System as part of a controlled clinical trial comparing posterior dynamic stabilization using the Stabilimax NZ to patients receiving traditional fusion stabilization to treat degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis. A total of 266 Stabilimax NZ patients and 133 control patients are expected to be enrolled in the trials. "The purpose of our study is to evaluate and compare the improvement observed in patients receiving flexible stabilization using the Stabilimax NZ device versus patients receiving the traditional fusion-type stabilization," said Thomas Dimmig, MD, a spine surgeon with Triangle and a principal investigator for the study at North Carolina Specialty Hospital. Applied Spine develops Stabilimax NZ, a posterior dynamic stabilization device designed to support an injured or degenerated spine without eliminating motion.

• Siemens Medical Solutions Diagnostics (Tarrytown, New York) reported the launch of the Clinitek Advantus urine chemistry analyzer, the newest member of the Clinitek family of urine analyzers. The Clinitek Advantus analyzer is designed to enable automated reading of Siemens' Multistix family of urinalysis testing strips in medium to high-throughput settings. The Clinitek Advantus Analyzer is a semi-automatic urine chemistry analyzer that can perform up to 500 tests per hour, the company said. The enhanced analyzer is network-ready and delivers improvements such as the ability to consolidate microscopic test results. Technicians can enter results using the analyzer's touch screen or PC keyboard. The analyzer has enhanced quality control capability and automatically prompts technicians to perform QC testing. The unit includes QC lock-out and a simple one-touch operation allowing users to switch between different test configurations. Consolidated reports, including off-line urine microscopy test results, can be printed and/or transmitted to laboratory or healthcare information systems (LIS or HIS).

• Visionsense (Orangeburg, New York) reported availability of its new distal "chip-on-a-stick" 3.4 mm 3D stereoscopic camera for minimally-invasive surgery. The camera technology provides image quality equivalent to High Definition (HD) as not optically "diffraction limited". The company says that the camera provides a real-time "natural" Stereovision, 3D measurements and image fusion that combines Stereovision with MRI, CT or ultrasound and displays both merged. Visionsense said that the camera enables "new minimally invasive surgical specialties and procedures that are underserved by traditional 2D visualization products, in markets such as: spine, neurosurgery, gynecology, urology, general surgery, micro, plastic and orthopedics."