• Stereotaxis(St. Louis) reported U.S. commercial availability of its new family of Cronus magnetically enabled .014” vascular guidewires. The guidewire family includes the Cronus Soft Support, Cronus Moderate Support, Cronus CS and Assert Guidewires. All guidewires have a new distal coating to enhance therapeutic device advancement and a Neo 55 magnet design for consistent magnetic deflection. The Cronus Moderate Support Guidewire has been designed for increased distal shaft support and the new Assert Guidewire has been designed to aid in lesion crossing applications. The new guidewire family integrates with the Stereo-taxis Niobe Magnetic Navigation System to providein vivoguidewire tip adjustments to facilitate guidewire advancement in tortuous vascular anatomy.

• Triage Medical (Irvine, California) said the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has notified the company that two new patents have been issued. The patents include 89 claims strengthening the foundation of Triage’s Compression Locking Anchor with Secondary Purchase (CLASP) technology. The CLASP technology is used in the company’s Bone-Lok products for the fixation and surgical reconstruction of bone fractures and fusions.

• TriPath Imaging (Burlington, North Carolina) and Ventana Medical Systems (Tucson, Arizona) reported that TriPath has received 510(k) clearance from the FDA for the Ventana Image Analysis System when used with tissues stained for Estrogen Receptor (ER) and Progesterone Receptor (PR). Ventana will globally market the Ventana-branded interactive histology image analysis system from TriPath Imaging. ER and PR analysis aids in the management of breast cancer.