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Latest Editorial Additions
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Polaris offers Level 2 CTA training
for cardiologists, radiologists
The Polaris Medical Academy, a Level 2 CTA Certification program. is offering eight Level 2 CTA training courses for cardiologists and radiologists in Irvine, Calif.. Additional classes may be offered in Cupertino, Calif., and Nashville, Tenn.
Throughout the four-day certification, doctors will receive training from some of the most qualified coronary CTA instructors in the industry, and experience 50 live cases in the academy’s own CT center. The personal Level 2 ACC / AHA / SCCT / ACR training, including 150 case studies of which 50 are live.
After completing the training, participants will receive 34 CME credits toward Category 1 requirements.
For more information, call 888-402-7727 or see polarisacademy.com.
New online vascular health book
offers children a vascular care ‘how-to’
An on-line vascular health activity book that teaches children 5-12 years of age how their vascular system works is now available on VascularWeb.org at vascularweb.org//patients/PDF_Docs/composite_activity_book.pdf in the Patients and Families section. It uses “blood buddies” to teach children how the vascular system delivers oxygen and nutrients throughout their bodies and why they need to eat well and maintain an active lifestyle to keep it healthy. It stresses the importance of exercise, healthy eating, and not smoking through games and coloring pages.
Dr. K. Wayne Johnston, MD, president of the Society for Vascular Surgeons, said that according to the National Institute of Child Health & Human Development, the percentage of children and teens who are overweight has more than doubled in the past 30 years.
“This startling statistic has crucial consequences for the future for these children,” he said. “If they grow into obese adults, they face a greater chance of having vascular diseases such as stroke and peripheral arterial disease. Vascular surgeons want to do what we can to help parents and schools teach youngsters about the health risks of obesity and smoking. If they understand how their bodies work they may be more likely to take good care of themselves.”
Task force does not recommend
screening for carotid artery stenosis
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendation for clinical guidelines for the screening for carotid artery stenosis (CAS) has been published in “Annals of Internal Medicine” (2007;147:854-859). The USPSTF issued a grade D recommendation that stated, “Do not screen for asymptomatic CAS in the general adult population.” This is an update of the task force’s 1996 statement about screening for asymptomatic CAS in the general population. The task force examined the evidence on the natural history of CAS, systematic reviews of the accuracy of screening tests, observational studies of the harms of screening and treatment of asymptomatic CAS, and randomized, controlled trials of the benefits of treatment for CAS with carotid endarterectomy.
The USPSTF stated that it makes recommendations about preventive care services for patients without recognized signs or symptoms of the target condition. It bases its recommendations on a systematic review of the evidence of the benefits and harms and an assessment of the net benefit of the service. The USPSTF stated that it recognizes that clinical or policy decisions involve more considerations than this body of evidence alone. Clinicians and policymakers, the task force said, should understand the evidence but individualize decision making to the specific patient or situation.
The recommendation and background information are at ahrq.gov/clinic/prevenix.htm..
VNUS appoints CFO, R&D chief
VNUS Medical Technologies Inc., a San Jose, Calif., provider of medical devices for the minimally invasive treatment of venous reflux disease, has appointed two new executives. Peter Osborne has been named chief financial officer and vice president of finance and administration; and Kirti Kamdar has been named senior vice president of research & development.
Osborne had served as the company’s interim CFO since the October 2007. Prior to VNUS, he held various finance leadership and management roles at Sanmina-SCI, Mercury Interactive/HP, Optillion AB, Neopolitan Networks and WorldChain. Osborne is a former audit partner of Deloitte & Touche. He is a CPA and holds a Bachelor of Commerce and BS (Honors) Operations Research degrees from the University of Cape Town, South Africa.
Kamdar joined VNUS with many years in the field. He most recently was senior vice president at Cardiac Dimensions Inc., a privately held medical device company. He has also held various senior leadership and management positions at Vascular Architects, Somnus Medical Technologies and Mallinckrodt Medical. Kamdar holds a MS degree in Polymer Engineering and Science from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, and an executive MBA from the University of Houston.
Frost & Sullivan recognized Terason
with the Technology Innovation Award
Frost & Sullivan has awarded Terason its Technology Innovation Award in the field of portable ultrasound systems for the development of two systems called the Terason t3000 and the t3000 Echo system.
The significance of the system lies in its image quality, network capability and function that are comparable to high-end cart-based ultrasound systems but less expensive. Spokesmen say they are the world’s only ultrasound systems powered by an off-the-shelf commercial PC, which because of its open architecture is easy to upgrade.
The systems consist of two key components – a system-on-chip engine and an off-the-shelf MacBook PC running Windows.
An array of transducers connected to the systems allow clinicians to perform any ultrasound exam at the point of patient care anywhere. VTN
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