A Diagnostics & Imaging Week

The Department of Homeland Security's Office for Domestic Preparedness has awarded a grant for "Physiologic Assessment of Wildland Firefighters During Their Annual Pack Test" to Storm King Mountain Technologies (Camarillo, California) and VivoMetrics Government Services (Ventura, California).

The two companies will partner to gather and study high-resolution physiologic data on 500 wildland firefighters during their annual "pack test." This is a test to determine fitness of wildland firefighters in which they wear a 45-pound pack and must walk 3.5 miles in 45 minutes or less. This year three firefighters died during a pack test in Montana.

The study will gather high-resolution physiologic data and traditional paramedic data gathered via VivoMetrics' LifeShirt system in order to describe the physiologic response to a strenuous physical test of wildland firefighters. The physiologic data will be used to establish guidelines for monitoring wildland firefighters during pack tests, training scenarios and deployment. The entire project must be completed in 12 months.

The primary objectives are to measure respiration, ECG, SpO₂, body temperature, posture and activity as experienced by wildland firefighters over the course of a pack test; develop a greater understanding of the time course and scale of physiologic responses to the stress associated with a pack test; and develop guidelines for monitoring the physiological responses of wildland firefighters to help increase the likelihood of safely completing future pack tests, training scenarios and deployment.

The total grant amount is $748,699.

Jim Roth is president of Storm King Mountain Technologies. Ten years ago, his brother, a wildland firefighter, and 12 others were tragically killed fighting a fire on Storm King Mountain in Colorado. Roth subsequently started his company of the same name, dedicated to improving safety for firefighters.

Noting that firefighters die every year during the pack test exercise, Storm King Mountain Technologies and VivoMetrics said the grant represents an opportunity for them to contribute to improving safety for such firefighters.

Tm Bioscience (Toronto), which focuses on the commercial genetic testing market, has signed an agreement with the Oklahoma State Department of Health to
supply its Newborn Screening Program (NSP) with Tag-It Analyte Specific Reagents for the CFTR gene.

"Oklahoma is one of a growing number of U.S. states incorporating genetic testing into their newborn screening programs," said Greg Hines, president and CEO of Tm Bioscience.

The NSP is a collaborative program between Family Health Services and the Public Health Laboratory at the Oklahoma State Department of Health. All babies born in the state are screened for congenital hypothyroidism, galactosemia, phenylketonuria (PKU), sickle cell disease, and since Feb.14, cystic fibrosis and congenital adrenal hyperplasia.

Each year the NSP laboratory screens about 50,000 infants and provides comprehensive follow-up services to ensure repeat testing is achieved for 1,300 newborns
identified at risk for a disorder or genetic trait condition.

Separately, Tm Bioscience signed an agreement to supply Lenetix Medical Screening Laboratory (Franklin Square, New York) with the Tag-It ASR reagents for use in its cystic fibrosis gene (CFTR 39+4) assay.

In other grants/contracts news:

Bristol-Myers Squibb Medical Imaging (BMSMI; North Billerica, Massachusetts) reported that Premier Pur-chasing Partners, the group purchasing division of Premier (San Diego), has awarded it a three-year, sole-source contract for Definity (Vial for Perflutren Lipid Microsphere Injectable Suspension), an echocardiography contrast agent.

BMSMI will offer Definity to Premier's 1,500 hospital facilities and other affiliated sites throughout the U.S. The agreement continues through Dec. 31, 2007.

In patients with suboptimal echocardiograms, Definity is designed to enable clearer visualization of the borders of the heart. Improving the visualization of the primary pumping chamber of the heart, Definity-enhanced echocardiography may improve the ability to evaluate left ventricular wall motion, according to BMSMI.

Maxant Technologies (Niles, Illinois) said it has signed a joint-venture agreement with Pro-Tech X-Ray (Tallassee, Alabama), a developer of X-ray protective apparel, forming a new company called Maxpro, which will manufacture a line of radiation protective apparel and accessories.

Maxant is a manufacturer of X-ray illuminators. It also produces specialty mammography, orthopedic, chiropractic and podiatry viewers. In addition to X-ray viewers, the company is a supplier of radiation protective apparel and eyewear to the diagnostic imaging marketplace.

Siemens Medical Solutions (Malvern, Pennsylvania) said that it has been awarded three-year contracts with HealthTrust Purchasing Group (HPG; Brentwood, Tennessee) to provide its network of 1,500 participating hospitals and healthcare systems access to Siemens MRI and ultrasound technologies, through March 31, 2008.

HPG members can select from Siemens' portfolio of MRI systems, including the Magnetom Avanto, Symphony, Trio and Espree, all available with total imaging matrix technology, and its advanced ultrasound technologies.

HPG said that this is the first time it has offered Sie-mens' MRI systems to its membership.

Strategic Diagnostics (Newark, Delaware), a provider of biotech-based detection solutions for food, water, agricultural, industrial and environmental applications, reported signing a distribution agreement with US Biosystems (USB; Boca Raton, Florida), a provider of environmental testing and data management services.

USB receives preferred marketing rights to Strategic Diagnostics' line of environmental test kits when sold through an analytical laboratory channel.