In March 2009, APIC conducted an online poll of members to determine the effects of the economic decline on infection prevention departments. The APIC survey showed that many hospitals have experienced layoffs, hiring freezes and budget cuts for education, training, technology and new products. These cuts have impaired their infection prevention programs.
Apic concludes that without adequate funding for appropriately trained and staffed infection prevention departments, progress in eliminating healthcare-associated infections could stall. APIC plans to use the survey results to drive awareness of the need for resources for infection prevention programs.
Bone Solutions Inc. (BSI) announced today that it has received FDA 510(k) clearance for a proprietary bone void filler, OsteoCrete, which represents a critical milestone in the company’s efforts to establish a platform for its patented magnesium-based technology.
According to the company, OsteoCrete exhibits compressive strength and expandability yielding a binding quality that surpasses calcium-based orthobiologics. The magnesium-based material is resorbable as it is replaced with bone during healing and it is injecatble and osteoconductive.
Tom Lally, President of BSI said in a release that the “magnesium-based technology along with other ingredients provides significant compressive strength and possesses Ph-neutral qualities that make it ideal as a delivery system for possible future applications.â€
The OsteoCrete Bone Void Filler device uses a similar material composite noted in the patent that the FDA cleared for long-bone and pelvis applications.
Nerac Analyst Richard Hendriks, Ph.D., will present a session titled, “Retinal Implants Open the Shutters on Blindness ,†at the ASME Emerging Technologies’ 4th Frontiers in Biomedical Devices Conference in Irvine, CA, June 8–9, 2009.
The presentation addresses the challenges of restoring sight, which are immense, and the advances in this area which go hand in hand with advances in technology. As is the case with most electrical prostheses, these advances cross many scientific disciplines, from biophysics to electrical engineering. Of equal importance is the surgical aspect of being able to successfully implant such devices.
Dr. Hendriks will discuss two approaches being employed; the subretinal implant, and the epiretinal implant. It is noteworthy that close to 300 patents have been filed and granted on this topic. Over the past 12 months, 26 patents were filed or granted naming various assignees, such as the Doheny Eye Institute, Neurosystec Corporation, IMI Intelligent Medical Implants AG, Retina Implant GMBH, Second Sight Medical Products Inc., W.C.Heraeus GMBH & Co., and NewCyte, Inc., to name a few.
The presentation will review patenting trends over the past few years and explore recent patent publications by a select few companies on the subject of retinal implants to convey some of the latest research efforts and interesting advances in this area.
Some key points to be covered in the presentation include:
1. Different approaches to retinal implants
2. A review of patenting trends around these technologies
3. A review of patent publications by a select few companies in this area
4. An overview of how this activity impacts the research efforts and advances in this area
