There have been several key news items from the U.S. stent market over the past year. These include the introduction of several new stents, Cordis pulling out of the market, an expanded indication in carotid stenting and development of new stent technology that will likely open a new chapter for percutaneous interventions.

Today’s generation of cath lab hemodynamic recording systems do much more than simply measure and monitor a patient’s electrocardiogram, blood pressure and other vital signs. Current systems offer detailed clinical reporting and auto-completion of data fields in the procedure report, help gather registry data, aid in tracking inventory and patient billing, and link images and cine loops to reports.

I repeatedly hear two competing, contradictory themes discussed at every symposia – the need to lower healthcare costs and that costs to bring new technology to market are rapidly increasing. The U.S. leadership position as a medical technological innovator is slipping to Europe, where there is a much wider selection of devices to choose from. The requirements to gain CE mark clearance are much more lenient than U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) pre-market approval.

The space needed and costs involved to create a hybrid operating room (OR) for a specific speciality may not be feasible, especially at mid-sized hospitals. This was the case at Middlesex Hospital in Middletown, Conn., where the facility wanted to increase procedural volume, but needed to upgrade its small operating rooms for vascular, endovascular, laparoscopic and endoscopic procedures.