• ArthroCare (Austin, Texas) said study results published in this month's Journal of Arthroscopy and Related Surgery show the use of low-temperature bipolar radio frequency, known as Coblation technology, preserves the same amount of healthy cells in a bovine model as a mechanical shaver in the treatment of the meniscus. The study also indicated that Coblation technology may result in a smoother surface when compared to the shaver. This follows another study presented in January at the International Cartilage Repair Society symposium indicating that Coblation may aid in the repair of the avascular region of the meniscus of rabbits following injury and suture repair.

iAdvantage Software (Cary, North Carolina), a provider of web-based electronic study management solutions, said it will launch ePublisher, the report generator from its web-based eStudy management solution, as a stand-alone product at the Pharmaceutical World Congress in Philadelphia in May. With ePublisher, the user has on-demand control to design templates in and to generate reports directly into the word processing or spreadsheet software of their choice. ePublisher extracts data from Oracle and SQL databases. Report templates are available for reuse and sharing.

MedQuist (Mount Laurel, New Jersey) said its DocQment Code ED Plus solution provides mobile emergency department (ED) caregivers with a highly functional, PDA-based dictation tool that allows physicians or other caregivers to dictate reports at the point-of-care delivery. This solution can also access the hospital's registration system to obtain necessary patient demographic data for reporting and coding purposes. Customers can also add transcription software that features integrated speech recognition capabilities and outsourcing editing services. DocQment Code ED Plus includes an intuitive web-based electronic signature component. With this solution, reports are distributed directly to the appropriate hospital systems and/or the EMR. Remote coding technology is also available, along with Natural Language Processing capabilities.

Merge Healthcare (Milwaukee), a provider of healthcare software and services, said that it will showcase its Fusion Matrix PACS 64-bit processing technology at SCAR (Society for Computer Applications in Radiology), which begins today in Austin, Texas. Merge eMed continues its innovation with the first PACS workstation ported to a 64-bit environment. The 64-Bit Edition of Fusion Matrix PACS enables radiologists to easily load and manipulate studies regardless of size. Comparison is possible with as many priors as needed. Performance testing has supported loading more than 10,000 studies simultaneously without any erosion of workstation performance. The power of 64-bit far surpasses existing limits on memory usage. When combined with the Fusion RIS, users gain full clinical and business workflow that the company said can substantially accelerate productivity.