• Inverness Medical Innovations (Waltham, Massachusetts) and its subsidiary, Wampole Laboratories (Princeton, New Jersey), reported the availability of a new fecal occult blood (FOB) test, the Clearview Ultra FOB Test which, they said, offers advances over existing colorectal cancer screening tools. The Clearview Ultra FOB Test is a two-step immunoassay test for the detection of fecal occult blood, with results available in less than five minutes and only one sample needed from the patient. The test does not require the patient to adhere to a restricted diet, which they company said may lead to better compliance. The new test uses Inverness' lateral flow technology, which detects human hemoglobin in a fecal specimen.

• JMAR Technologies (San Diego) said it has received U.S. patent No. 6,845,145 B2 for advanced X-ray lithography stepper technology enabling a faster, more cost-effective means of producing zone plate optics for its Compact X-ray Microscope and X-ray Nano Probe product lines. JMAR said the combination of its soft X-ray source and its newly patented stepper creates a "unique tool" for fabrication of the zone plate diffractive optics used to collect and focus X-rays. The zone plate optical elements require concentric ring spacing in the sub-100 nanometer range and are currently written using electron beam lithography systems, a time-consuming and costly method, since the thousands of concentric rings comprising the zone plate are written one ring at a time. Using the X-ray lithography stepper technology covered by the patent, JMAR said it plans to write these concentric rings concurrently, resulting in more efficient production.

• Kensey Nash (Exton, Pennsylvania) said it has received CE mark approval for a new triActiv FX System. The company is preparing to launch the product, designed to prevent heart attacks during the interventional treatment of saphenous vein grafts in patients who previously received coronary bypass surgery but now have blockages in the grafts, through direct sales and distributors in Europe. The triActiv FX System features design enhancements to the triActiv System platform, including a new balloon inflator that simplifies catheter exchanges during the procedure and a monorail flush catheter to enhance usage and reduce procedure time. A multi-center, non-randomized clinical study, to support regulatory clearance of the triActiv FX System in the U.S., will begin later this month, Kensey Nash said.

• Medtronic (Minneapolis) reported that its Kinetra Dual-Channel Neurostimulator and leads were used in a feasibility study of patients suffering from treatment-resistant depression. The study, published in the March 3 issue of Neuron, saw a strong, sustained reduction in depression in four of six patients evaluated, results supporting ongoing research on deep brain stimulation (DBS). Medtronic said it is working with the FDA to introduce a DBS therapy for obsessive compulsive disorder using its technology under a humanitarian device exemption that it hopes to receive in the coming fiscal year. The company said it also is actively evaluating DBS in the treatment of patients suffering from depression. Activa Therapy uses surgically implanted neurostimulators to deliver electrical stimulation to precisely targeted areas on each side of the brain.

• OrthoClear (San Francisco) reaffirmed plans to release the OrthoClear System orthodontic product in doctors' offices this spring. The system, which the company bills as "the next generation in invisible orthodontics," will offer advantages over current invisible orthodontic methods, including what OrthoClear calls "superior technology" in acquiring and reproducing dentition geometry, more control over the treatment process and outcome, flexible business processes, and a lower cost of care. The OrthoClear system allows straightening of teeth without traditional braces. The announcement follows an agreement reached in court on March 1 between OrthoClear and Align Technology, maker of the first orthodontic system of this type.

• ReGen Biologics (Franklin Lakes, New Jersey), a company that develops products for human tissue repair, reported that it regained its rights to exclusively market and distribute its Collagen Meniscus Implant (CMI) worldwide. CMI uses the body's own healing process to grow new tissue in the meniscus and restore activity levels for patients with meniscus loss. ReGen Biologics and Zimmer (Warsaw, Indiana), the successor-in-interest to Allo Pro AG (Sulzer Medica and most recently Centerpulse), were parties to a distributor agreement in February 1996 whereby Zimmer, through its acquisition of Centerpulse, was the exclusive distributor of the CMI outside the U.S., subject to certain minimum sales requirements. In 2003, ReGen exercised its rights to make the agreement non-exclusive when Zimmer did not satisfy certain sales obligations. Last month, ReGen received notice from Zimmer of its intent to terminate the agreement effective Aug. 11.

• Varian (Palo Alto, California) reported the release of its Version 6.5 Mass Spectrometer (MS) Workstation Software that includes CTC Autosampler control for liquid chromatography (LC). The Version 6.5 is a single fully integrated application allowing both gas chromatography (GC)/MS and LC/MS systems to be operated under one standardized platform. Complementing the latest revision of the platform, Varian said it now offers full control of the CTC HTS PAL Autosampler. The company said the MS Workstation SW Version 6.5 provides ease-of-use enhancements for routine LC/MS analysis involving large numbers of samples, such as simplifying routine data review and quantitation of large numbers of data files, enabling the operator to be more productive with large sample loads. In addition, full control of the CTC HTS PAL Autosampler is integrated in the software, allowing the operator to program the autosampler without leaving MS Workstation. The Version 6.5 MS Workstation Software will begin shipping in June.