Boston Scientific has launched its TruePath CTO Device in the U.S. with a rollout in Europe scheduled for later in the year. TruePath is designed for penetrating through chronic total occlusions that block peripheral arteries, avoiding the need for the patient to undergo a bypass.

The device features a diamond coated tip that can spin at 13,000 rpm to drill right through uncooperative plaque buildups.

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In space, nothing is as easy as it is on Earth, and an ill astronaut could pose a major problem to any space mission. For advanced diagnostis purposes, the International Space Station already carries an ultrasound device, but astronauts are generally not trained ultrasound operators. Also, a connection to ground-based expert help may involve unwieldy communication delays, so it is no surprise space agencies are looking into ways to make future space travellers more self-sufficient.

The European Space Agency (ESA) is working on an augmented reality system that will help astronauts better diagnose medical problems in space. The Computer Assisted Medical Diagnosis and Surgery System, CAMDASS as it is strangely called, is a wearable augmented reality system with a head-mounted display that merges actual and virtual reality by precisely combining computer-generated graphics with the wearer’s view.

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Bostton Scientific has announced the European market launch of the PROMUS Element Plus everolimus-eluting platinum chromium coronary stent. Professor Antonio Colombo, MD, director of the cardiac catheterization lab at Columbus Hospital and San Raffaele Hospital in Milan, recently implanted the first patient in Europe with the device. The stent incorporates platinum chromium (PtCr) alloy and features a catheter delivery system designed to facilitate deliverability in treating patients with coronary artery disease. Boston Scientific plans on marketing the stent in select European and other CE Mark countries immediately. A full market launch will follow in the second quarter of 2012.

“The PtCr alloy and stent architecture used in the Element platform offer significant advantages in conformability and radiopacity compared to other stent platforms,” explained Dr. Colombo in a press release. “I believe the improved deliverability of the PROMUS Element Plus Stent System will add another significant benefit, especially when accessing challenging lesions. This innovative stent is also supported by strong clinical outcomes from the PLATINUM trials, which demonstrated very low rates of revascularization and stent thrombosis at one year.”

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Medtronic received FDA clearance for its DF4 High-Voltage Connector System, a right ventricular lead and connector, compatible with various implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) and cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators (CRT-Ds).

The device is made to be easier to implant thanks to a new port featuring visual confirmation and only one connection unlike previous leads that often needed up to three hookups.

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Toshiba has received FDA clearance for their Aquilion PRIME CT system. The scanner uses many of the features developed for the Aquilion ONE, and focuses on low radiation dose and a fast workflow.

Compared to the Aquilion ONE it has fewer detector rows (80 vs. 320)

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Ultrasound has been a welcome tool for many years to break up kidney stones, but finding the stones still requires radiograph or CT imaging. Researchers from the University of Washington and the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) believe they developed a method of detecting renal calculi using a modified diagnostic ultrasound equipment found in every modern hospital. Moreover, once detected, they are able to apply ultrasound in a controlled way so as to be able to push the stones in a desired direction. This may create a new treatment option, allowing physicians to guide stones toward the kidney exit that are refusing to pass naturally.

Detection of the stones is done thanks to the unexplained “twinkling artifact” phenomena that makes stones sparkle under Doppler ultrasound. Because X-rays are not used in detection, patients and clinicians would be less exposed to radiation, and diagnosis could be done faster and right at the point of care.

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A year ago we reported on a nifty use of augmented reality technology to display tomography images virtually right on the body of the patient who was scanned.

The project, called “mirracle,” is spearheaded by researchers from Technical University of Munich who have been improving the interactivity of the system over the last year to make it more intuitive and easy to use.  Here’s the latest demo video of the latest iteration of the magic mirror:

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Digirad received the European CE Mark of approval for its Cardius X-ACT solid state SPECT imager. It features low dose volume CT attenuation correction, 3D-OSEM reconstruction and upright imaging capability.

The company already has approval from the FDA to market the Cardius X-ACT in the U.S.

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Researchers from the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, a collaboration between A-STAR in Singapore and Imperial College in London, have come up with a new way to create electromagnetic Teraherts waves (T-rays). The new technology can make T-rays into a stronger, more directional beam than current methods. This could allow T-ray devices to become much smaller and cheaper in the future. The results of their study were published in Nature Photonics.

Current T-ray imaging devices, like airport full-body scanners, are very large and expensive, and consume large amounts of energy as well. A portable T-ray scanning device could in the future make a medical tricorder possible, as T-rays can detect certain biological processes, such as changes in blood flow. As every molecule has a unique signature in the THz range, T-rays can sense for specific molecules as well.

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Crux Biomedical has received CE mark approval for its inferior vena cava filter (IVCF) with bi-directional retrieval. Inferior vena cava filters are implanted to trap blood clots that may cause pulmonary embolism in patients who are at high risk but have contraindications to anticoagulation.

The Crux Biomedical IVCF was designed to overcome several limitations of currently available vena cava filters including perforation, migration and inability to retrieve. Features, from the product page:

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