• Medtronic (Minneapolis) reported completion of enrollment in RESOLUTE International, a post-market study of its Resolute Drug-Eluting Stent (DES). The Resolute DES draws on the strengths of Medtronic's Endeavor DES. The products share the same cobalt alloy stent platform and the potent antiproliferative drug zotarolimus. Both stents contain biocompatible polymers. The Resolute DES uses the BioLinx polymer, which is designed to extend the duration of drug exposure in the vessel – an elution profile of potential relevance to patients that physicians consider to be at high risk of needing a repeat procedure – without trading off polymer biocompatibility.

• Quest Diagnostics (Madison, New Jersey) said that it will enable patients and their physicians to share diagnostic laboratory test results, using Microsoft HealthVault. The connection will enable physicians who use Quest Diagnostics' Care360 patient-centric physician portal to securely transfer, at a patient's request, diagnostic laboratory test results in a HIPAA-compliant format into the patient's protected account. Patients will be able to use their account to access current and historical diagnostic laboratory records from their physicians.

• Rafael Medical Technologies (Dover, Delaware) has received FDA clearance for its SafeFlo Vena Cava Filter. The clearance is for the permanent implantation of the filter in patients at risk of pulmonary embolism; safety and effectiveness as a retrievable or temporary filter have not been established. The SafeFlo filter is an implanted expandable metal device used to capture hazardous blood clots caused by trauma, surgery or other medical conditions before they can reach the lungs, causing a pulmonary embolism. SafeFlo's anchoring mechanism design allows for full repositioning prior to active filter detachment, providing the physician with full control of the implantation procedure.

• Roche Applied Science (Penzberg, Germany) reported the availability of a new detection kit for the Influenza A/H1N1 virus. The detection kit is offered for use in life science research. Roche currently is filing to get approval of the local health authorities worldwide for use of the kit in emergency situations. The kit runs on Roche s LightCycler 480 II, 2.0, and 1.5 systems. It was evaluated with virus positive sample materials and selectively identifies the new Influenza A H1N1 virus. "The design of the new detection kits benefitted very much from information we got out of our manifold research cooperations. We are glad of our contribution in supplying fast and reliable tools for the detection of Influenza A/H1N1 to the research community," said Manfred Baier, head of Roche Applied Science.

• W.L. Gore & Associates (Flagstaff, Arizona) reported one of the first clinical uses of the 31 mm diameter version of the Gore Excluder AAA endoprosthesis since its approval in March 2009 by the FDA. The device was used to treat a patient with abdominal aortic aneurysm. The device is an endovascular graft and stent combination that isolates the aneurysm from systemic blood flow. It is inserted through a small incision in the patient's leg using a catheter-based delivery technique to treat the AAA.