by Mary Vanac/Plain Dealer ReporterWednesday November 12, 2008, 10:56 AMFor the third year in a row, Cleveland Clinic doctors and consultants have picked the medical innovations they think will rise to the top next year.
The Top 10 Medical Innovations for 2009 were announced today, the closing day of the Clinic's sixth annual Medical Innovation Summit.
10. A national health information exchange. A comprehensive system of electronic health records that are portable and link consumers, doctors, hospitals and other health services providers. This computerized system has the potential to replace paper medical files with digital records that could increase quality of medical care and reduce its cost.
9. Doppler-guided uterine artery occlusion. An experimental procedure that uses sound waves and a clamp to kill fibroid tumors in the uterus. This procedure, which is being tested at the Clinic among other hospitals, could be an alternative to uterus removal for some women.
8. Integration of diffusion tensor imaging. A noninvasive technology that allows neuroscientists to create two- and three-dimensional, color images of the brain. Scientists use the images to locate nerve fiber bundles that must be preserved during brain surgery.
7. LESS and NOTES applications. Laparoendoscopic single-site surgery pairs minimally invasive surgical techniques with a single incision in the patient's belly button. Natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery is incision-less surgery through a natural orifice, such as the mouth, vagina or colon. Both techniques reduce infection rates and pain, and speed healing among patients.
6. New strategies for creating vaccines for avian flu. Scientists are working to engineer effective vaccines against killer bird viruses, such as H5N1. Current vaccines are formulated to match the flu virus as it mutates. A new approach uses a mock version of the virus to trigger an immune response that protects a person from the virus.
5. Percutaneous mitral valve regurgitation repair. Repairing a leaky mitral valve in the heart -- the one-way valve that connects the left atrium to the left ventricle -- from the inside out. A special clip is threaded through a catheter in the femoral artery in the groin to the heart. The clip is clamped on the center of the mitral valve "leaflets," holding them together and restoring normal blood flow.
4. Multispectral imaging systems . A time- and money-saving imaging system that when attached to a standard microscope enables pathologists to see up to four stained proteins at a time. Pathologists look at protein distributions to understand tumors and other abnormal tissues. Now, scientists must look at one of these proteins at a time.
3. Diaphragm pacing system. An electric device that stimulates the diaphragm to contract and relax, enabling paralyzed patients to breathe without the help of bulky mechanical ventilators. These devices can help paraplegics lead more normal lives and reduce rates of ventilator-induced pneumonia, which kills half of the people who get it. Synapse Biomedical Inc. in Oberlin makes a diaphragm pacing device called NeuRx DPS.
2. Warm organ perfusion device. Developed in Europe and being tested in the United States, this device pumps warm blood through a donor heart. The heart naturally starts beating and continues to beat until it is transplanted. This action keeps the heart from decaying.
1. Use of circulating tumor cell technology. A technology that measures tumor cells that circulate in the blood. Results can help doctors understand how a cancer is progressing and how to adjust treatments in patients who have repeat cancer.
Nov 12, 2008
Cleveland Clinic picks Top 10 medical innovations for 2009
Medical device testing enters a new era
| 11 November 2008 |
THE testing of vital medical devices like hip and knee replacements, pacemakers and stents received a boost this week as a new agreement was announced which will make it easier to get approved NHS patient trials underway.
Launched jointly by the Department of Health and the Association of the British Healthcare Industries, the model Clinical Investigation Agreement (mCIA) has been welcomed by the medical technology industry as timely and helpful in the current financial climate.
The mCIA covers all industry-funded medical technology trials in patients in NHS hospitals and removes much of the bureaucracy which is seen as a significant barrier to their efficient launch in the UK. Previously it was necessary for site-by-site reviews and local legal agreements to be drawn up before testing could begin.
Public health minister, Dawn Primarolo, explained: “The mCIA is the first time all UK health departments, the NHS and representatives from industry have agreed standard contract requirements for medical technology industry-funded trials and has been developed to enhance the UK clinical research environment for the benefit of NHS patients.”
The agreement is just one of a raft of measures introduced to improve the UK’s clinical research environment. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has already launched new services to speed up the assessment of clinical investigations for regulatory purposes and has launched an industry-focused advice service. In addition, the National Research Ethics Service has streamlined the process with committees of expertise on the ethical review of device studies and the Integrated Research Application System provides an electronic portal for the single submission of data required to initiate research.
John Jeans, industry co-chairman of the Ministerial Medical Technology Strategy Group, said: “We fully support the principle of the model agreement for medical device companies carrying out clinical investigations in collaboration with the NHS. This document should serve as another step towards enhancing the UK environment for medical device research and development.
The announcement has also been welcomed by the Association of British Healthcare Industries (ABHI). Its chief executive, Peter Ellingworth, told HES: “This agreement has been the result of a great deal of work by the Department of Health, the industry and NHS stakeholders. The new agreement for both regulatory and post-market medical device studies will fulfil the need for a document that has the confidence of all parties in order to streamline the administrative process of getting approval for clinical investigations underway at NHS sites. It should also help with the goal of making the UK a world-class environment in which to conduct clinical research on innovative medical technologies.”
Nov 10, 2008
Intel Hopes for Healthy Growth in Medical Devices
GigaOM by
If mobile Internet devices don’t work out, Intel is also making inroads in the personal health market. The chipmaker today launched a patient monitoring device and online interface to connect doctors and their patients remotely. This is an industry Intel has targeted for years, but because of a host of reasons, a market where the company has never gained much traction.
The Intel Health Guide product gained FDA approval in July, surmounting one of the obstacles technology faces as it enters the human body, but it still has to gain market acceptance. Aside from FDA approval, medical tech needs to gain acceptance by caregivers, patients and health insurers. Getting all three stakeholders behind a new product or a new way of delivering health care is tricky. Because the end users of the device don’t typically pay for the systems, it’s a far more involved process than simply convincing a device manufacturer that your chips, software or component works best for their particular application.
Intel’s launching trials in the U.S. with Aetna, Erickson Retirement Communities, Providence Medical Group in Oregon and SCAN Health Plan, proving that Intel knows it needs to get the technology buyers on board before trying to explain the value to doctors and educate patients. I’ll keep my hopes up, because I do believe technology can deliver great benefits in the healthcare sector for everyone involved. However, I also know that getting accepted is difficult — and that acceptance only the begining. Once the stakeholders sign on to such a system, businesses and policy makers need to address questions of securing the information, as well as the ethics of remote monitoring. But the potential for huge growth as Baby Boomers age and the multiple types of chips such systems will need make it a market that’s hard to ignore.
Comprehensive Intel Health Guide seeks to provide in-home health monitoring
Filed under: Desktops, Misc. Gadgets
In-home medical monitoring systems are far from new, but everyone takes notice when a firm like Intel formally announces that it's diving in headfirst. According to a new report from The Wall Street Journal, Intel is gearing up to launch a series of trials with health-care organizations in order to "show whether the new tools bring improved results in treating conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and heart disease." More specifically, the Intel Health Guide -- which includes a "simplified computer and software system that are designed to help elderly people and other patients monitor and manage their conditions at home" -- will connect to medical equipment and thentransmit that information with specified individuals (namely health professionals) over the 'net. Admittedly, the initiative is far from being implemented in non-trial form, but it should be good to go by the time you start forgetting things and kvetching about the taste of your tap water.
In-home device from the chipmaker will gather data and dispense advice remotely to chronically ill patients.
Aug 1, 2006
The Top 30 Global Medical Device Companies
The Top 30 Global Medical Device Companies
Gains Top Declines
The success of the medical device industry is never more apparent than when you examine the numbers being produced by manufacturers in this market. Year by year, today’s top companies show that dedication to the bottom line can help amass steady growth, with most of the top 30 companies posting healthy double-digit gains over the prior fiscal year.
Of course, with all the competition and consolidation occurring in daily business, some companies showed signs of weakness with flat or, even worse, declining sales and profits—however, they are in the minority.
While US companies tend to dominate the top 30, the proliferation of international giants shows that the industry is generating more and more profits from global outreach efforts, particularly in China, Japan and Europe. The dollar’s fluctuating worth will surely continue to impact sales over time, though.
As the following in-depth company examinations show, new product innovation usually plays the most prominent role in determining success and sustainability year after year.
At least one of the companies on this list will disappear in 2006. Guidant will probably go down in history as one of the top newsmakers of 2005 due to Boston Scientific’s aggressive acquisition of the cardiovascular product maker—not to mention Guidant’s mounting legal troubles stemming from a slew of product recalls and reports of improper handling of related problems with its ICDs and pacemakers.
Parent company Kodak has also been weighing the merits of selling its longtime healthcare division and, by this time next year, that segment could be operating under another owner. Meanwhile, Tyco is transforming itself by breaking into three separate segments.
However, like the industry overall, this report includes a variety of success stories, most notably St. Jude. The industry’s shining star in 2005 improved sales by more than 27%—an enviable accomplishment for any company in any industry. And Hospira, in its first full year as an independent company (it was formerly a division of Abbott), held its own in a crowded marketplace.
With all the myriad acquisitions occurring in the medical device sector, and the ever-new crop of small start-up companies, it’s interesting to note that this year’s list (in terms of ranking by sales) didn’t differ much from last year. The lone entrant to the elite list is Varian Medical. In the current climate, however, it’s anybody’s guess as to who will be on this list next year.
One caveat about this list: Bausch & Lomb certainly fits into the fold of the top 30 medical device companies, but, unfortunately, the company did not have any firm 2005 numbers to report as of press time.
The MPO StaffTOP MEDICAL DEVICE MANUFACTURERS
1. Johnson and Johnson $17.7B 2. GE Healthcare $12.1B 3. Medtronic $10.1B 4. Baxter International $9.8B 4. Cardinal Health $9.8B 6. Tyco Healthcare $9.5B 7. Siemens Medical Solutions $9.2B 8. Philips Medical Systems $7.5B 9. Boston Scientific $6.3B 10. Stryker $4.9B 11. B. Braun $3.9B 12. Guidant Corp. $3.6B 13. 3M Healthcare $3.5B 14. Zimmer Holdings $3.3B 15. Becton, Dickinson & Co. $3B 16. St. Jude Medical $2.9B 17. Kodak Health Group $2.7B 18. Hospira $2.6B 19. Fresenius $2.5B 20. Smith & Nephew $2.4B 21. Synthes $2.1B 22. Alcon $2B 23. Biomet $1.9B 24. C. R. Bard $1.8B 24. Terumo $1.8B 26. Dentsply International $1.7B 27. Invacare $1.5B 28. Gambro $1.4B 29. Dräger Medical $1.3B 30. Varian Medical $1.2B
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