• QMed (Eatontown, New Jersey) reported it has filed a patent with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office surrounding the company’s system and method for determining and verifying disease classification codes. Michael Cox, QMed president/CEO said, “The purpose of the system is to accurately specify the severity of patient medical conditions from a coding perspective.” QMed provides evidence-based clinical information management systems.

• SonoSite (Bothell, Washington) has introduced a new high-frequency broadband transducer, the C11e/8-5. With its small footprint, the C11e transducer is designed to provide enhanced image quality and deeper penetration for visualizing the delivery of regional anesthesia and line placement. It is the seventh MicroMaxx system transducer offered by SonoSite for a variety of anesthesiology procedures and assessments. SonoSite claims to be one of the first ultrasound companies with transducers that have regulatory clearance for epidural and lumbar plexus imaging.

• TriPath Imaging (Burlington, North Carolina) and Ventana Medical Systems (Tucson, Arizona) reported that TriPath Imaging has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the Ventana Image Analysis System (VIAS) when used with tissues stained for p53, a tumor suppressor biomarker which is used by pathologists as an adjunct to histopathology and is used to assist with diagnosis and the prognostic assessment of cancer. TriPath Imaging makes solutions intended to improve the clinical management of cancer, including detection, diagnosis, staging and treatment. TriPath Oncology, a wholly owned subsidiary of TriPath Imaging, develops molecular diagnostic products for malignant melanoma and cancers of the cervix, breast, ovary and prostate. Ventana makes instrument/reagent systems that automate slide preparation and staining in clinical histology and drug discovery laboratories.