• Cholestech(Hayward, California) said that it has been granted a patent by the U.S. Trademark and Patent Office (no. 6,881,581) and the European Patent Office (EP 1,329,724) for a new method of measuring high-density lipoprotein (HDL) in human blood. The company believes that this patent provides a different approach than those of other existing patents describing the measurement of HDL and that this patent also permits the development of the Cholestech LDX Lipid Profile/Alanine Aminotransferase (Lipid/ALT) cassette by preventing the interference of the HDL chemistry with the ALT assay on the same cassette.

• EP MedSystems (West Berlin, New Jersey) said it intends to expand the market for its Alert product platform with the submission of the Alert CS/RA premarket approval supplement to the FDA. The Alert CS/RA Catheter System replaces existing electrophysiology (EP) catheters, allowing the EP physician to not only perform routine diagnostic procedures with the patented CS/RA, but also easily cardiovert atrial fibrillation to normal heart rhythm during the procedure. The Alert system offers the advantage to cardiovert internally, via the catheter itself, without the need to interrupt the procedure for external cardioversion or the side effects associated with the use of an external defibrillator. The Alert CS/RA catheters are used in conjunction with the Alert Companion, a bi-phasic energy source manufactured by EP MedSystems.