Park Nicollet Health Services, a large integrated health provider in the Twin Cities was one of the beta testers of a novel new service to track customer satisfaction in real time using a text messaging service.The pilot was meant to test the value of the service, called CareWire, that was developed by Healthy Heartland, a [...]

The Medical Devices Group on LinkedIn is one of the most active groups on the site, and as a member, I often check out what’s being discussed there.The 100,000-strong group’s owner Joe Hage has in the past flexed his muscle to gain support for repealing the 2.3 percent medical device tax using the forum. It [...]

Last week. venture capitalist Mike Carusi created a bit of a stir at the IBF MedTech Investing Conference in Minneapolis when he loudly proclaimed that many late-stage deals are “crap.”He went on to add that the reason they are late stage is because no one is interested in themAlthough the audience laughed out loud, I [...]

A startup that treats conditions of the spine using minimally invasive devices announced Wednesday that it has raised $25 million in its third round of financing.Zyga Technology said that new investor Versant Ventures took part in the series C round and was joined by existing investors Split Rock Partners, Domain Associates and MB Ventures. The [...]

In a short news release issued Wednesday afternoon, Medtronic(NYSE:MDT)disclosed that the U.S. Department of Justice has closed its civil and criminal investigation into the company’s former blockbuster and controversial product Infuse.The investigation launched more than three years ago was into whether Medtronic illegally promoted the off-label use of the bone growth product. A spokesman said [...]

Ten years ago, if anyone said that a multifunctional device would one day allow people to play a word game with anyone in the world as well as enable a doctor to get ECG data — many would simply say baloney.Of course, the iPhone and iPad are no longer a figment of anyone’s imagination.With the [...]

Mayo Clinic has 14 apps for the iPad and 15 on the iPhone.Until Monday, none of the free mobile medical apps were specifically meant for patients. The three free ones were mainly for doctors, alumni and people interested in medical research).In a phone interview, Dr. Sidna Tulledge-Scheitel, associate dean of e-health and medical director of [...]

Startups, listen up.GE’s nearly two-and-a-half-year-old, $250 million Healthymagination Fund still has a “lot of dry powder” and executives are looking for promising startups to invest in.Noah Lewis, managing director of the Healthymagination Fund, and a colleague were out broadcasting the fund’s capabilities while meeting new companiesat the IBF MedTech Investing Conference in Minneapolis last week. [...]

When it comes to commercialization efforts of renal denervation therapy, St. Jude Medical (NYSE:STJ) is behind Medtronic (NYSE:MDT).But St. Jude Medical is hoping that slow and steady may still win the race in the quest to use this novel treatment in patients whose high blood pressure is not controlled by medication.The device maker announced Tuesday [...]

Boston Scientific announced Monday that it is collaborating with Royal Philips Electronics through which the Dutch company will sell Boston Scientific Imaging equipment compatible with its imaging systems globally.Specifically, the marketing and distribution agreement relates to Boston Scientific’s iLabs ultrasound imaging system and its imaging catheters, which will now be sold with Philips’Allura Xper catheterization [...]