nContact Surgical (Morrisville, North Carolina) said it has received the first investigational device exemption (IDE) from the FDA to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a combined surgical and catheter procedure, which the company has dubbed the convergent procedure, to treat patients with long-standing persistent atrial fibrillation (AF). (Medical Device Daily)

Varian Medical Systems (Palo Alto, California) has introduced a new line of what it calls "super" accelerators designed to advance the treatment of lung, breast, prostate, head and neck, and other types of cancer. According to Varian, the TrueBeam platform for image-guided radiotherapy and radiosurgery is the first fully-integrated system designed to treat a moving target with unprecedented speed and accuracy. (Medical Device Daily)

A month after initiating what has been dubbed one of the biggest medical device recalls in history, Boston Scientific (Natick, Massachusetts) says it will "immediately resume distribution" of its Cognis cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators (CRT-Ds) and Teligen implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs). (Medical Device Daily)

Army veteran Matt Williams served in Iraq at the end of 2005 just south of Baghdad, which is considered to be among the most intense times of the war and one of the most dangerous locations. During his time on the battlefield Williams, 26, encountered dozens of explosive devices, and lost several of his fellow soldiers, including his best friend. (Medical Device Daily)

In the past 20 years or so the medical device industry has helped transform the way surgeons do their jobs in the operating room. Many procedures that used to be performed openly are now being done laparoscopically via small keyhole incisions, or with the help of robotics. The term "minimally invasive" has become almost a cliche in the industry as companies across a range of sectors race to make operations as minimally invasive as possible. (Medical Device Daily)

As the baby boomer population ages, there is a growing need for new spine technology and procedures – and the more minimally invasive they are, the better. SpineMark CRO Management (San Diego, California) believes it has developed a rather unique model to help spine device manufacturers bring new technology to approval in the U.S. (Medical Device Daily)