Stryker Corp. reported that it signed a definitive merger agreement to acquire Vocera Communications Inc. for $2.97 billion in an all-cash transaction expected to close in the first quarter of this year. Vocera provides digital care and communication services, which Stryker said will designed to help hospitals connect caregivers and various data-generating medical devices such as wearables, paired beds, ambulation equipment, badges and alarms. Read More

Canadian company Future Fertility Inc. is hatching plans to expand the user base for its flagship egg prediction software product, Violet, for egg cryopreservation. The noninvasive image analysis tool uses artificial intelligence (AI) to evaluate the reproductive potential of mature eggs. Investors are backing the Toronto-based company with $6 million in series A funds, so it can expand internationally and develop additional assessment products. Read More

Bioventus Inc. has received FDA 510(k) clearance for a device that enables surgeons to remove bone in hard-to-work spaces during minimally invasive surgery. It acquired the company that developed the tool, Great Neck, N.Y.-based Misonix Inc., in October. Read More

PARIS – A team of researchers from the Université Grenoble Alpes, France, has been working on X-ray phase-contrast imaging (PCI) for investigating osteoarthritis. The team at the Inserm Synchrotron Radiation for Biomedicine (Strobe) laboratory in Grenoble, France has spent the last five years working with Grenoble-based firm Novitom SAS on this new imaging modality for osteoarticular conditions. Read More

In a recent study, investigators led by Tony Tiganis at Monash University, Australia have identified that upregulation of the enzyme NOX4 (NADPH oxidase 4) boosted levels of reactive oxygen species and protected development of insulin resistance in both aged as well as obese mice. Read More

New hires and promotions in the med-tech industry, including: Bluewind Medical, Forza Innovations, Nexus Spine, Veracyte, The Wound Pros. Read More

Med-tech firms raising money in public or private financings, including: Virtue Diagnostics. Read More

Clinical updates, including trial initiations, enrollment status and data readouts and publications: Median Technologies, Transmedics. Read More

Med-tech happenings, including deals and partnerships, grants, preclinical data and other news in brief: Delta Medical, Illumina, Mainz Biomed, Nanovibronix, Natera, Pillar, Socpra, Somalogic. Read More

Regulatory snapshots, including global submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Jelikalite, Vy Spine. Read More