Surgical Equipment and Services

Medtronic begins global study comparing the Endeavor and Cypher drug-eluting stents

Medtronic has initiated the first investigational sites in the USA to participate in PROTECT, the company’s global study comparing the Endeavor and Cypher drug-eluting stents on key safety metrics, including stent thrombosis – a rare but serious adverse event in which a blood clot forms inside the stent, with the potential to cause heart attack or death.

04 August 2008: Medtronic

First US pancreatic cancer patient is treated using Elekta VMAT system

A patient with pancreatic cancer has become the first person in the USA to receive treatment using Elekta VMAT (Volumetric intensity Modulated Arc Therapy) at Seattle’s Swedish Cancer Institute.

30 July 2008: Elekta

Varian enters radiation therapyagreement with MEI Development and MEI Financial Services

Varian Medical Systems has entered into a strategic agreement with MEI Development and MEI Financial Services, both subsidiaries of the MEI Healthcare Group, for the purchase of radiation therapy systems for cancer treatment from Varian.

29 July 2008: Varian

Concentric launches new series of neurovascular retrievers in the USA

Concentric Medical has launched its ‘V’ series of Merci Retrievers in the USA which are available in multiple configurations and sizes to match patient anatomy, join Concentric Medical's existing Merci Retrievers already on the market, and provide physicians with additional options for restoring blood flow in patients who have suffered ischemic strokes.

29 July 2008: Concentric Medical

Innocoll commences dosing in Phase 2 clinical trial of pain management surgical implant

Innocoll has announced that the third of a series of planned phase 2 clinical trials sponsored by its wholly owned subsidiary, Innocoll Technologies, to investigate CollaRx Bupivacaine Surgical Implant for the management of post-operative pain, has commenced dosing.

29 July 2008: Innocoll Technologies

Accuray supplies CyberKnife robotic radiosurgery system to St Luke's Episcopal Hospital

St Luke's Episcopal Hospital in Houston, Texas, USA, has purchased a CyberKnife Robotic Radiosurgery System from Accuray to further expand treatment offerings for its nationally recognised NeuroScience Center programme.

25 July 2008: Accuray

Pioneer Surgical Technology offers new solution for ACDF surgery procedures

Pioneer Surgical Technology has introduced the SlimFuse Anterior Cervical Plate System which has been designed to optimize anterior cervical fusion procedures while addressing the clinical needs of anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) surgery.

24 July 2008: Pioneer Surgical Technology

Rigshospitalet orders new Novalis Tx radiosurgery platforms non-invasive radiosurgery

One of Scandinavia's leading cancer centres has ordered three Novalis Tx radiosurgery platforms which combine the most advanced technologies from Varian Medical Systems and BrainLAB to offer non-invasive radiosurgery for patients.

24 July 2008: Varian

MIMA deliver stereotactic body radiotherapy to treat soft tissue carcinoma

Doctors at Melbourne Internal Medical Associates (MIMA) Cancer Center have become the first in the world to treat cancer use RapidArc radiotherapy technology from Varian Medical Systems to deliver stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) in the treatment of soft tissue carcinoma.

23 July 2008: Varian

Cook launches new Iliac Legs in Europe

Cook Medical has launched its innovative Zenith AAA Iliac Legs with Flex Stent Gapping following the product receiving CE marking certification.

22 July 2008: Cook

Impliant’s Total Posterior Arthroplasty device used in first surgery procedure in the USA

The first surgery in the USA has been conducted using a less-invasive version of Impliant’s TOPS System, a Total Posterior Arthroplasty device designed to treat spinal stenosis with or without facet arthrosis and spondylolisthesis.

18 July 2008: Impliant

Core Essence unveils new range of soft tissue and skeletal repair surgical solutions

Core Essence Orthopaedics has introduced a range of innovative surgical solutions focusing on soft tissue and skeletal repair of the extremities.

17 July 2008: Core Essence Orthopaedics

CardioTech to export 4mm graft to support European clinical trial of CardioPass

CardioTech International has received US FDA approval to export its 4mm graft in further support of the ongoing European clinical trial of CardioPass, the company’s proprietary synthetic coronary bypass graft.

14 July 2008: CardioTech International

First New Yorkers receive RapidArc radiotherapy treatment

Two prostate cancer patients became the first people in New York to receive a faster, more comfortable form of accurate radiotherapy in pioneering treatments at Radiation Oncology Associates of New York which will be changing its name to Advanced Radiation Centers of New York in August 2008.

10 July 2008: Varian

Abbott starts Xience V USA post-approval study at six hospital centres

Abbott has started the Xience V USA post-approval study, with six hospital centres already recruiting and enrolling patients just one week after the US Food and Drug Administration approved the Xience V Everolimus Eluting Coronary Stent System.

10 July 2008: Abbott Vascular

Medtronic moves forward with Endurant Abdominal Stent Graft System

Medtronic has announced the international market launch of the Endurant Abdominal Stent Graft System and the first implants of the next-generation medical device in the US clinical trial.

07 July 2008: Medtronic

St Barbara Hospital selects Ablatherm-HIFU system to treat prostate cancers

EDAP TMS has agreed new revenue per procedure (RPP) contracts in Germany with St Barbara Hospital in Gladbeck and the Urological Clinic of the University of Heidelberg.

04 July 2008: EDAP TMS

Promus stent receives US FDA approval

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the Promus Everolimus-Eluting Coronary Stent System for the treatment of coronary artery disease.

03 July 2008: Boston Scientific

Xience V Everolimus Eluting Coronary Stent System receives USA FDA approval

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the Xience V Everolimus Eluting Coronary Stent System for the treatment of coronary artery disease.

03 July 2008: Abbott Vascular

Mid-term performance data on CryoLife’s CryoValve SG human heart valve is released

Positive mid-term performance data has been released on CryoLife’s CryoValve SG decellularised pulmonary human heart valve at the 34th Annual Western Thoracic Surgical Association Meeting in Kona, Hawaii, USA.

01 July 2008: CryoLife

First-ever vulnerable plaque clinical trial sees patient receives vProtect Luminal Shield

An interventional cardiology team led by Professor Patrick W Serruys has successfully placed a vProtect Luminal Shield in the left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery of a 64-year-old man at Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

01 July 2008: Prescient Medical

Californian medical centre pioneers radiotherapy with brain cancer patients

The Center for Radiation Therapy of Beverly Hills is the first medical centre in California, USA, to commence treating cancer patients with a new technique utilising RapidArc radiotherapy technology from Varian Medical Systems.

30 June 2008: Varian

Cook’s Zenith TX2 TAA Endovascular Graft achieves first placement in the USA

Cook Medical has achieved the first commercial placement of its Zenith TX2 TAA Endovascular Graft in the USA.

25 June 2008: Cook

Studies reveal benefits of catheter ablation system for atrial fibrillation

Ablation Frontiers has announced that two studies reporting positive findings about its novel atrial fibrillation catheter ablation system have been presented at the Cardiostim World Congress, a premier meeting for physicians that treat cardiac rhythm disorders.

25 June 2008: Ablation Frontiers

CyberKnife radiosurgery system receives approval in Japan

Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) has granted Shonin approval of the CyberKnife Robotic Radiosurgery System for use in treatment of extracranial tumours, including tumours that move with respiration.

23 June 2008: Accuray