January 27, 2011 – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted conditional investigational device exemption (IDE) approval to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of a cath lab robotic navigation system to direct guidewires and place coronary stents.

January 26, 2011 – Patient enrollment has begun in China for a trial evaluating the safety and effectiveness of a next-generation stent. The PLATINUM China clinical trial will look at the Promus Element Everolimus-Eluting Platinum Chromium Coronary Stent, by Boston Scientific, for treating patients with a single de novo atherosclerotic lesion.

January 25, 2011 – The cost to treat heart disease in the United States will triple by 2030, according to a policy statement published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

January 24, 2011 – Boston Scientific has reached an agreement with Fukuda Denshi to market and sell its cardiac rhythm management (CRM) devices and accessories throughout Japan. Fukuda Denshi will begin distributing the CRM products this quarter. Fukuda Denshi has been operating in Japan for more than 70 years. For more information: www.bostonscientific.com

January 24, 2011 – A new device for treating peripheral artery disease (PAD) is now available in Europe. W.L. Gore and Associates announced the availability of its Viabahn Endoprosthesis on a lower profile delivery system at the Leipzig Interventional Course in Germany.

January 24, 2011 – The first U.S. clinical implant of a device designed to restore more natural breathing patterns in patients with central sleep apnea was made last week at The Ohio State University Medical Center, Columbus.

January 21, 2011 – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this week unveiled a plan containing 25 actions it intends to implement during 2011 to improve its 510(k) review of medical technology, the most common path to market for medical devices.