TomTec and Medis have announced the launch of a joint cardiac imaging and analysis product for X-ray angiography and ultrasound. The combined solution is a fully integrated software package that consists of TomTec’s Image-Arena™ and Medis’ QAngio® XA quantification software. It will be available as one platform that can be integrated into the products of partnering medical device manufacturers and that connects to existing PACS, HIS, CPACS and CVIS in hospitals. The software solution drastically reduces the integration effort for industry partners and for hospitals that want to optimize their imaging and analysis processes and data management.

Medtronic, Inc. has launched the Endeavor Sprint drug eluting stent (DES) on a rapid exchange (RX) delivery system in the U.S. The Endeavor Sprint system uses Sprinter ™ balloon catheter technology. The system puts the highly deliverable Endeavor DES on an enhanced delivery platform. This makes Medtronic’s flagship DES even easier for physicians to deliver to the site of coronary blockages. The Endeavor Sprint drug eluting stent system is the latest innovation to come out of our robust product pipeline in CardioVascular.

The U. S. Food and Drug Administration has granted approval to C. R. Bard, Inc. for marketing its Flair™ Endovascular Stent Graft with an optimized delivery system. The device consists of a self-expanding Nitinol stent encapsulated within the proprietary ePTFE graft material of Bard. The product has received the indication  for use in the treatment of stenoses in synthetic arteriovenous bypass grafts. A six-month long study conducted by Bard showed that the placement of the device resulted in more than twice the primary patency of balloon angioplasty. “The Flair Endovascular Stent Graft represents the first interventional technology demonstrating superiority to balloon angioplasty in maintenance of access patency.