MedTech News Briefs | February 5th, 2024

Monday, January 29th

Accelus has launched the LineSider Modular-Cortical System, designed to provide surgeons with enhanced visibility, versatility, and efficiency in expandable spinal implant technologies. The modular screw design allows for greater procedural visibility by allowing the placement of screw shanks early in the procedure, followed by modular tulips and rods at the end.
RenovoRx has closed a private placement round, securing approximately $6.1 million in gross proceeds to extend its cash runway as it conducts the pivotal TIGer-PaC Phase III clinical trial. The funding will support operations through 2024, aid in the preparation for the Phase II CouGar study in bile duct cancer, and explore pipeline applications in non-small cell lung cancer, uterine tumors, glioblastoma, and sarcoma.
Sechrist Industries has introduced two products, the eHEAL software system and the 3300HM Hyperbaric Chamber, aimed at enhancing hyperbaric medicine. The eHEAL software is an automated logging system designed to improve the accuracy and efficiency of treatment logging, while the 3300HM Hyperbaric Chamber features a modern design with a Patient Step-in Entry, eliminating the need for a hyperbaric stretcher.

Medline UNITE has unveiled its new Lisfranc Plating & Screw System, a product that adds to the company’s portfolio of midfoot trauma and reconstruction implants. The system offers 18 dual-ray Lisfranc plates with bendable and removable tabs, providing flexibility to accommodate variations in patient anatomy, and features specially designed screws with unique thread pitch and optimized head profile tailored for the anatomy and indication.
Elon Musk announced that Neuralink, his brain-computer interface (BCI) company, has successfully completed its first human implant. The implant, about the size of a coin, aims to enable users to control computers or mobile devices with their minds and is remotely rechargeable.
Insightec has introduced Exablate Prime, the next generation of its magnetic resonance (MR)-guided focused ultrasound system, Exablate Neuro. The new system features an intuitive user interface, intelligent algorithms, and enhanced precision, efficiency, and user experience for incisionless neurosurgery for outpatient procedures, providing relief for individuals with movement disorders such as essential tremors.

Amcor has announced a significant expansion of its North American thermoforming capabilities for the healthcare market. The addition of automated thermoforming equipment at Amcor’s healthcare manufacturing plant in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, will support increasing demand from customers in the medical, pharmaceutical, and consumer health sectors, providing an efficient option for companies looking to partner with Amcor to support their growth ambitions.
Boston Scientific has secured FDA approval for its Farapulse PFA System, a pulsed field ablation (PFA) technology designed for treating drug-refractory, recurrent, symptomatic, paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF). PFA is considered a promising ablation modality for AF treatment, and the Farapulse PFA System relies on tissue-selective, non-thermal electric fields to ablate heart tissue while avoiding damage to surrounding structures, offering a potentially safer and faster approach than traditional methods.
Cardiovascular Systems, Inc. (CSI) has received FDA clearance for its WIRION Embolic Protection System, designed for use in peripheral vascular procedures. The device demonstrated a major adverse event (MAE) rate of 1.9% in the WISE LE study, indicating a potential improvement over rates reported for other lower extremity embolic protection filters.

Researchers have developed an implantable device that could provide a long-term supply of insulin to the body. The implant was designed to shield insulin-producing, or islet, cells from damaging immune responses, while continuously generating oxygen to sustain them.
A tactile perception system provides human-like multimodal tactile information to objects like robots and wearable devices that require tactile data in real time. The research team developed a real-time and multi-modal tactile detection system by mimicking the principle by which various types of tactile information are perceived by a variety of sensory receptors in human skin and transmitted to the brain in real time.
Festo is showcasing new life science automation innovations, including its wide-range flexible pipetting, which scales seamlessly from 20 µl up to 20 ml for bulk transfer. The customizable solutions combine Festo components into dynamic subsystems for labs worldwide.

Fractyl Health, a company focused on developing medtech and gene therapies to reverse diabetes and obesity, has started trading on the Nasdaq under the symbol “GUTS.” The company priced its 7,333,333 shares at $15 per share, raising around $110 million from the initial public offering (IPO).
Edwards Lifesciences has received FDA approval for its Evoque transcatheter tricuspid valve replacement system. The approval came earlier than expected and was based on the positive results of the Triscend II pivotal trial, where nearly 99% of patients achieved moderate or lower tricuspid regurgitation after six months.
Synchron, a brain-computer interface technology company, has acquired an equity stake in Acquandas, a specialist in high-precision components, to strengthen its position in the implantable medical device industry. Acquandas is known for developing micro-patterned Nitinol thin films used in medical devices, offering miniaturized structures, high resolution, complex geometries, biocompatibility, and enhanced mechanical properties.