Spacelabs to offer Masimo SET

Spacelabs Medical (Issaquah, Washington), a global manufacturer of patient monitoring systems, and Masimo (Irvine, California), the developer of Signal Extraction Technology (SET) pulse oximetry, reported an alliance in which SET will be integrated with Spacelabs' patient monitoring systems, including its Ultraview bedside monitors.

Dave Tilley, president and chief operating officer of Spacelabs, cited SET pulse oximetry "delivering high performance and minimizing false alarms."

Joe Kiani, Masimo CEO, added, "We are happy to partner with Spacelabs to create patient monitoring solutions that combine the strengths of both companies to best meet the needs of clinicians and the patients they treat in healthcare institutions around the world."

Spacelabs manufactures patient monitoring systems for critical care and anesthesia, wired and wireless networks and clinical information connectivity solutions, ambulatory blood pressure monitors and medical data services.

ChondroGene in collaboration with Pfizer

ChondroGene (Toronto) reported that it has entered a new two-year research collaboration with Pfizer (New York) for the identification of novel therapeutic targets and biomarkers for the treatment and diagnosis of osteoarthritis (OA). This collaboration will continue the work in two research programs that were initiated in the first company collaboration with Pfizer that started in October 2002.

The collaboration provides Pfizer with access to ChondroGene's database of osteoarthritis tissue-specific clinical and gene expression information to identify potential novel therapeutic targets for OA. The agreement also will allow ChondroGene to accelerate its OA biomarker research program. Development of new biomarkers is essential for the early diagnosis of OA as well as for validating the effectiveness of potential disease-modifying therapies for OA, the company said.

The two-year collaboration is valued at up to $7.35 million, compared to $4.7 million for the initial collaboration.

ChondroGene is focused on the application of functional genomics designed to enable early diagnosis and personalized therapeutic intervention based on disease-specific biomarkers.

New imaging society formed

The Society of Cardiac Computed Tomography (SCCT; Washington) is the newest medical group to be formed, its papers of incorporation filed Jan. 10.

A vision statement approved by the SCCT board says that the society "will be the recognized representative and advocate for physicians, scientists and technologists who work in the field of cardiac computed tomography. It will nationally and internationally be seen as the principal independent organization committed to the further development of cardiac computed tomography through education, training, accreditation, advocacy, quality control and research."

Organizers of the new society said that establishing the SCCT was discussed with medical and scientific leaders in this field of cardiovascular diagnostic imaging earlier this month in Atlanta.

Settlement reported by Swissray

Swissray (Elizabeth, New Jersey) reported a settlement with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Terry Ross, chairman and CEO of Swissray, said, "The terms of that settlement are confidential between and among the parties."

Swissray is a supplier of direct digital radiography technology providing radiographic images in seconds with- out the use of film, imaging plates, cassettes or chemical processing.