Neuro

Some really informative items have been floating around this week. It’s especially noteworthy that Thoratec’s Heartmate II® Ventricular Assist Device has seen its 10,000th patient. It’s a sobering thought that many of these patients would not have had a chance without the technology.

Top universities really do churn out some brilliant work. In this case Stanford researchers have published on the use of coated gold nanoparticles which selectively find cancer cells and aid in their isolation for treatment, potentially improving accuracy with the benefit of minimising collateral damage and ensuring no cancer remains.

Given the furore, it’s no surprise that St.Jude’s Cardiac Rhythm Management sales dipped in Q1 2012. While overall company sales grew, the net effect on the bottom line was a reduction from $233M to $212M compared with the equivalent quarter a year ago.

Stryker’s financial report for Q1 looks pretty rosy as sales and profits climb nicely. Projections are pretty conservative though with anticipated sales growth of 2-5% for the year.

Israeli company Brainsway put its money where its mouth is when it undertook a major clinical study into the effect of its therapy on unresponsive depression sufferers. The results suggest it paid off as significant improvements were noted in the treatment group.

Stereotactic Radiosurgery techniques are at the forefront of events at this week’s AANS meeting. Varian Medical Systems Inc is demonstrating its wares in what is becoming the gold standard treatment option in specific brain and spinal tumors.

St Jude has recalled and suspended sales of its Brio Deep Brain Stimulation system until it resolves the issue of body fluid ingress, which it believes is causing a lack of therapeutic effect.

Stryker’s Wingspan Stent is up for FDA panel review on March 23rd. FDA’s Executive Summary, released today doesn’t auger well as results of clinical study don’t seem to support safety and efficacy claims.

Carefusion’s Viking on Nicolet® EDX Electrodiagnostic system has gained FDA clearance and will be shown at forthcoming America Academy of Neurology meeting in New Orleans.

Two new device approvals announced for Canada this week. Neither Medtronic’s DBS therapies for epilepsy nor Boston Scientific’s RF ablation catheter are US FDA approved, but Health Canada are clearly convinced by the weight of the submissions.

Deep Brain Stimulation for Refractory Epilepsy: First patient enrolled in Netherlands some 25 years after DBS was first indicated for essential tremor.

With a certain inevitability following rave reviews in its pivotal clinical study, Covidien’s revascularisation device for removing clots from occluded vessels in stroke patients has now gained FDA 510(k) clearance.

Could advances in biointerface technology mean the blind see, the lame walk, and the deaf hear? A new initiative aims to find out.

Challenges for Integra as sales grows at slower rate than costs.

Solid figures, but it’s not quite all good news at Medtronic as sales in some divisions suffer, especially in USA.

Despite losing Hemostase revenue, Cryolife has reported record Q4 and significant annual revenue growth, giving it optimistic outlook for the near term as it enacts global strategic initiatives.