Small healthcare providers – such as orthotic and prosthetic firms – are feeling significant financial strain due to the backlog of Medicare reimbursement appeals, according to a new analysis from Dobson DaVanzo & Associates (Dobson DaVanzo) commissioned by the American Orthotic and Prosthetic Association (AOPA; Washington).

A recent study from researchers at the London Health Science Centre (London, Ontario) found that the Esophageal Cooling Device (ECD), the first product from Advanced Cooling Therapy (ACT; Chicago), is successful in temperature management post cardiac arrest and for fever control in critically ill patients. The findings were presented in a poster presentation on March 17 at the 35th annual International Symposium on Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine in Brussels, Belgium.

Mitralign (Tewksbury, Massachusetts) reported last week, the first successful case of its solution for percutaneous tricuspid repair in Europe. The company gave a detailed reporting of the case of a direct transcatheter tricuspid repair (TTVR) for severe TR, which was reported by. J. Schofer of the Medicare Center and Department for Percutaneous Interventions of Structural Heart Disease, Albertinen Heart Center (Hamburg, Germany). Results from the procedure using the Mitralign system can be found in the current issue of the peer-reviewed Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC).

Earlier this month, I had the distinct pleasure of having a sit-down interview with Kenneth Mandato, the lead researcher for the migraine study and an interventional radiologist at Albany medical center, during the Society of Interventional Radiologists Annual meeting held here in Atlanta. During the interview we discussed the prevalence of migraines and a rather old (but underutilized) technique to treat these conditions. Mandato and a team of researchers from Albany Medical Center and the State University New York Empire State College (Saratoga Springs, New York), used a technique called image-guided intranasal sphenopalatine ganglion (SPG) blocks to give patients...

Medtronic (Dublin) made a huge splash in the drug-eluting stent (DES) space Thursday, when the med-tech giant revealed that it would begin its Resolute Onyx Clinical program in the U.S. for patients who have coronary artery disease. Included in the first phase of the study are patients with small vessels that would require a 2.0 mm stent, which until now, often were untreatable with a DES. Core sizes of the stent will be studied separately.

The closing of a new funding round could be the added spark Cardiac Dimensions (Kirkland, Washington) needs to establish its Carillon Mitral Contour System as the gold standard of care for functional mitral regurgitation (FMR) patients outside of the U.S. The firm reported the addition of $15.2 million to its current funding round bringing the aggregate amount raised in the round to $43.1 million

Stratasys (Minneapolis/Rehovot, Israel), a provider of 3-D printing and additive manufacturing solutions, is introducing the Objet260 Dental Selection 3-D Printer at the International Dental Show this week in Cologne, Germany. Leveraging Stratasys' triple-jetting technology, the Objet260 Dental Selection raises the bar in 3-D printed dental model realism to improve the accuracy and efficacy of digital dentistry, according to the company.