OptiMedica (Sunnyvale, California) has received FDA 510(k) clearance for its Catalys Precision laser system for creating single-plane and multi-plane arc cuts/incisions in the cornea during cataract surgery. The system, which was CE mark approved for these incisions earlier this year (Medical Device Daily, April 16, 2012), is now both CE mark approved and FDA cleared for this indication as well as capsulotomy and/or lens fragmentation.

Tornier (Amsterdam, the Netherlands), a company that provides surgical solutions to orthopedic extremity specialists, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire OrthoHelix Surgical Designs (Medina, Ohio) for $135 million plus additional revenue-based milestone payments over two years. The transaction will consist of $100 million in cash and $35 million in Tornier stock.

A few years ago Brad Paisley released “Welcome to the Future”, a song about all the changes he has seen in his lifetime and how some of the capabilities we have at our fingertips now, in terms of information technology, was merely a dream not that long ago. Paisley’s song has always struck a chord with me, pardon the pun, because our world is so fast-paced we don’t often pause long enough to think about the progress we have made. The same could be said for the medical device industry. A lot of devices that are in doctors’ hands today,...

Teleflex (Limerick, Pennsylvania), a provider of medical devices for critical care and surgery, said it signed a definitive agreement to acquire substantially all of the assets of LMA International (Singapore) for $343.5 million in Singapore dollars, which at current exchange rates translates into roughly U.S.$276 million.