PENUMBRA ACQUIRES 90% OF MVI HEALTH JV, LAUNCHES THROMBECTOMY DEVICES
Penumbra has acquired 40 percent of the outstanding shares of virtual reality joint venture MVI Health from collaborator Sixense, boosting its interest to 90 percent, and said it launched the Penumbra Jet 7 and Jet D reperfusion catheters. The joint venture intends to commercialize healthcare applications of virtual reality technology,
MEDICAL GROUPS, PATIENT ADVOCATES OPPOSE MEDICARE PLANS TO CONSOLIDATE E/M CODES
More than 150 medical groups sent a letter opposing a government plan to consolidate evaluation and management (E/M) codes, saying it could underpay doctors who treat the sickest patients. In a letter sent to Seema Verma, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the groups — including the American Medical Association

ACUSON SEQUOIA ULTRASOUND COMING TO A CITY NEAR YOU
Siemens Medical Solutions USA Inc. is taking its ACUSON Sequoia Ultrasound System on the road with nine stops between Aug. 23 and Oct. 4. Stops include: August 23: Philadelphia, The Union League August 23: Atlanta, The Westin Buckhead Atlanta August 28: Cincinnati, Hyatt Regency Cincinnati August 30: Detroit, The
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH: MEDICAL GROUPS DEMAND HHS STOP STALLING ON INFORMATION BLOCKING
Enough is enough. The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) joined 13 other medical associations and healthcare organizations Aug. 9 in telling the federal government it has dragged out the regulation-writing process on an important topic far too long. At issue are the information blocking provisions of the 21st Century
MICROSOFT IS DEVELOPING A GLASSES-BASED BLOOD PRESSURE MONITOR
Microsoft is developing new blood pressure monitoring technology called Glabella, which comes equipped on a pair of glasses that passively collects physiological data on the wearer, according to a research paper recently released by the company. The paper was written by Christian Holz, Microsoft Research in Redmond; and Edward J.

HEALING AT THE MID-LEVEL: TWO MID-LEVEL PRACTITIONERS DISCUSS CHALLENGES, REWARDS, FUTURE OF THEIR PROFESSION
By Larry Storer Mid-level practitioners in the medical field include occupations of nurse practitioners, nurse midwives, nurse anesthetists, clinical nurse specialists and physician assistants, to name a few. In this article, I asked two mid-level practitioners from American Vein & Vascular Institute to share their thoughts on the occupation,
FIRST MR THEATER IN U.S. OPENS AT PARRISH HEALTHCARE IN FLORIDA
Patients at the Parrish Healthcare Center in Titusville, Fla., are the first to have access to enhanced comfort during Magnetic Resonance (MR) exams thanks to the installation of the nation’s first Vantage Titan / Zen Edition 1.5T MR Theater from Canon Medical Systems USA Inc. The new MR theater projects peaceful, virtual reality
GE HEALTHCARE, LANTHEUS BEGIN A PHASE 3 CLINICAL TRIAL OF FLURPIRIDAZ TO TREAT CAD
GE Healthcare and Lantheus Holdings Inc., parent company of Lantheus Medical Imaging Inc., have started a second Phase 3 clinical trial of Flurpiridaz 18F (called the AURORA study), an investigational agent being evaluated for the detection of coronary artery disease (CAD), the most common form of heart disease.1 CAD affects an estimated

STRADIS HEALTHCARE FACILITY EARNS ISO; 2 EXECS HIRED; WEBSITE REDESIGNED
Stradis Healthcare, a provider of custom procedure trays and minor kits, has had several big events this summer, including earning ISO 13485:2016 certification for its Waukegan, Ill., facility; hiring two new executives; and overhauling its website, stradishealthcare.com. . Stradis serves more than 1,500 surgical centers, private practices and purchasing
VIEWRAY CLEANS HOUSE IN SEARCH OF GROWTH, SHAREHOLDER VALUE
ViewRay Inc., the Oakwood Village-based maker of an MRI-guided radiation therapy system called MRIdian, has named medical device industry veterans Scott Drake as president and CEO, and Shar Matin as COO, effective immediately. Both men had been executives at Spectranetics Corp., a developer and manufacturer of minimally invasive cardiovascular devices,