Medtronic Inc. has started shipments of its newest line of pacemaker systems Consulta and Syncra now that the devices have won U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval.Fridley, Minnesota-based Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) said Wednesday that both Consulta and Syncra include technology that allows for remote follow-up of heart patients implanted with the stopwatch-sized devices. The pacemaker [...]

International Cardio Corp. is licensing University of Minnesota technology that uses high-intensity focused ultrasound technology to treat clogged arteries in a noninvasive way.Donald Knight, the president of the Chaska, Minnesota-based startup, said in a Tuesday news release that he has a brother who nearly died during an angioplasty procedure.“Angioplasty is an effective procedure, but it [...]

Cardiovascular Systems Inc. recently announced that it’s started a limited-market release of its Stealth 360 Orbital PAD System, the latest in the company’s line of catheter-based systems that rub away plaque in clogged arteries in the pelvis or leg.St. Paul, Minnesota-based CSI (NASDAQ:CSII) claims the Stealth 360 has a simpler, more user-friendly design than previous [...]

It was only a single bullet in his pocket while waiting to board an airplane. But St. Jude Medical CEO Daniel Starks is in a different league, one often inhabited by professional athletes and celebrities rather than medical technology executives, after his detention last week at a Delhi, India airport.

ScyFIX is seeking to raise $4 million as the Chanhassen, Minnesota-based company continues to seek U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for a device that uses slight electric shocks to treat degenerative eye disease.ScyFIX has just started the offering, which expires in June 2012, according to a recent U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing.Thomas Harold, [...]

Mayo Clinic is providing expertise for a group of Harvard Business School students starting an incubator called Rock Health for people with innovative ideas for improving healthcare delivery.Dr. Michael Matly, who is in charge of business development at Rochester, Minnesota-based Mayo’s two-year-old Center for Innovation, has a Harvard MBA himself. Officials at the school introduced [...]

U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen, one of the top boosters for the medical device industry in Congress, doesn’t see a major repeal of health reform taking place. Still, the Minnesota Republican is hopeful some aspects of the law will change, including an upcoming tax on medical devices that Paulsen believes will stifle innovation.The nearly 50-member House [...]

Denis Harrington, who until recently was head of sales for Boston Scientific Corp.’s cardiovascular and CRM business, has left the company to become president and CEO of a Twin Cities startup called BridgePoint Medical Inc.

Abir Sen of Minneapolis-based Bloom Health thinks his company has a service that will replace the employer-sponsored health plan in much the same way that the 401(k) plan has mostly replaced a pension.

Tom Henke, a former high-level executive at health insurer Medica, is seeking to raise more than $2 million for a home diagnosis testing company called QuickCheck Health Inc. that he started last year.