A proliferation of medical device companies are located in Philadelphia and its surrounding counties in southeastern Pennsylvania. Of note, are the cluster of companies marketing or developing vascular, spinal and neurologic devices.

LAS VEGAS — The annual meeting of the Society of Laparoscopic Surgeons (SLS; Miami) was captioned as "Minimally Invasive Surgery Week" and drew an international audience with attendees from 40 countries. The primary focus of the conference was on minimally invasive surgery (MIS) procedures that are human-driven and performed laparoscopically or robotically-assisted laparoscopy. The program featured three separate debates which reviewed the merits or drawbacks of these techniques. Each of the speakers reviewed data from comparative studies, cost analyses, surgical outcomes and speed of recovery.