Conceptus named to Russell 3000

Conceptus (San Carlos, California), developer of the non-incisional Essure permanent birth control procedure, reported that the company has been added to the Russell 3000 Index following the Russell Investment Group's reconstitution of its family of U.S. indices on June 30. The Russell 3000 Index measures the performance of the 3,000 largest U.S. companies based on total market capitalization.

Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation formed

Some of the nation's experts on sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) – the leading cause of death in the U.S. – have joined together to launch the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation (SCA Foundation; Pittsburgh). The new non-profit organization says its goal is to advance best practices in resuscitation to save thousands of lives each year.

SCA strikes without warning and kills at least 250,000 Americans outside of hospitals each year. Of SCA victims, 10% are under age 40.

Nationwide, the SCA survival rate is 6% to 7% and has remained low for decades. However, the SCA Foundation says that where concerted efforts have been made to train community and lay responders in CPR and the use of automated defibrillators – where defibrillators are ubiquitous in public places and where new technologies have been successfully deployed – survival rates may reach 43% in municipalities and 90% in some cardiac rehabilitation centers.

“Sudden cardiac arrest is a treatable condition. It need not be fatal. By determining and disseminating information on successful strategies, we hope to double the national survival rate within the next 10 years,” said Mary Newman, president of the SCA Foundation. “Today, the new SCA Foundation embarks on a comprehensive educational outreach program directed at health and safety professionals, the at-risk community, and the general public.”

New heart center for UAB

Royal Philips Electronics (Andover, Massachusetts) and the UAB Health System (Birmingham, Alabama) reported UAB Hospital's new Heart and Vascular Center will feature advanced Philips Medical technology.

The partnership, they said, “is designed to enable the UAB Health System to fulfill its technological needs, including new facility construction, design consultation, and strategic integrated medical technology planning.”

The UAB Heart and Vascular Center, equipped with four adult catheterization labs, three electrophysiology labs, four vascular and interventional radiology labs, one interventional neuroradiology lab and one pediatric lab, also will research areas of cardiovascular care and management.

In addition to the Philips equipment used in the UAB Heart and Vascular Center, UAB has installed in its hospital and the Kirklin Clinic various advanced diagnostic systems, including the Philips Brilliance 64-slice and 40-slice computed tomography (CT) systems in the UAB Hospital radiology department, two Philips 40-slice CT systems in the emergency department, a Philips Achieva 3.0 Tesla Cardiovascular MRI System (the first in the state), outpatient bi-plane catheterization equipment, and an Achieva 1.5 Tesla MRI system in the Kirklin Clinic.