LivaNova to buy TandemLife in deal worth up to $250m

From Medical Design & Outsourcing

• Zeiss announces partnership with software outfit Xnovo Technology
  Zeiss Microscopy recently announced an exclusive strategic partnership agreement with Xnovo Technology, a Danish company developing software-based 3D X-ray imaging and analysis products. Zeiss and Xnovo have already been working together for two years. The strategic partnership, announced earlier this month, is meant to advance and expand the laboratory-based diffraction contrast tomography technique on the Zeiss […]
• This smartphone case monitors blood glucose on the go
  University of California San Diego engineers have created a smartphone case that, when paired with an app, can make it easier for people with diabetes to track and record blood glucose levels on the go. “Integrating blood glucose sensing into a smartphone would eliminate the need for patients to carry a separate device,” Patrick Mercier, […]
• MD&M West: 10 technologies you should know
  MD&M West is one of the largest medical device manufacturing events in the world, so it’s easy to get lost on the show floor. Even if you were in Anaheim, Calif., for the event last week, you may have missed a lot. From a new robotics insights display from Rethink Robotics to a disinfectant-resistant plastic […]
• Report: Amazon gearing up for entry into medical supplies biz
  Amazon (NSDQ:AMZN) is looking to up the ante in its medical supplies business and turn the unit into a major supplier to US hospitals and clinics, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The online mega retailer has initiated a trial of a new system testing to see if it can use its Amazon Business site to supply […]
• Rethink Robotics wants to make advanced manufacturing smarter: Here’s how
  Rethink Robotics is touting a value-add to its Sawyer manufacturing robots: a new feature called Intera Insights that displays key performance indicators (KPIs) on a customizable on-robot display, as well as on smart devices on the same network. Think easy access to metrics including cycle time, part count, speed and force. “Instead of just having it be ones and […]
• Spectrum Plastics Group buys Apex Resource Technologies
  Spectrum Plastics Group (Alpharetta, Ga.) is expanding its specialty products and design engineering offerings through its acquisition of Apex Resource Technologies. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed in today’s announcement. Apex has more than 60 people at its 45,000-square-foot facility in Pittsfield, Mass., and is a full-service design engineering, tooling and injection molding operation. […]
• Could this Eastman polymer improve medical device housing durability?
  Specialty plastics provider Eastman used the recent MD&M West to tout the ability of its MXF221 copolyester to hold up to repeated application of hospital disinfectants. Eastman officials think MXF221 could be a new option for medical device manufacturers – especially because a cracked housing could endanger the electronics inside expensive equipment including ultrasound and […]
• Ultrasound imaging and blood tests could catch liver cancer in early stages
  Researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern have recently discovered that combining ultrasound images with blood tests that test for high alpha fetoprotein (AFP) levels can improve detection of early-stage liver cancer by 40%. There are about 42,220 new liver cancer diagnoses and about 30,200 will die from it per year. It affects more men […]
• MasterControl thinks it can speed up validation: Here’s how
  MasterControl officials are touting cloud-based software-as-a-service as a way for medical device manufacturers to speed up validation processes. Their first validation excellence tool (VxT) involves risk-based software validation. The VxT — which MasterControl (Salt Lake City) showed off last week at MD&M West in Anaheim, Calif. — is a value-add on top of MasterCloud’s software solutions. […]
• 4 ways to make sensors work for mobile health
  Healthcare systems in the U.S. and around the world are increasingly turning to mobile health – keeping people out of expensive hospitals and instead treat people’s health problems from their homes. Sensors have a major role to play in enabling the shift. Sensor technology can help make up for the fact that the home, unlike […]
• Epec launches new customer portal version
  Epec recently announced that it has released its newest version of its Customer Portal. The company first released the Customer Portal in May 2015. After numerous usability complaints from customers, Epec’s ERP administrator and marketing team performed a design overhaul to make the site more user friendly. The team completely rebuilt the Customer Portal website […]