Volcano, a developer of products for the diagnosis and treatment of coronary and peripheral artery disease, has reported a sharp decrease in net losses for its fiscal 2008 full-year, which ended Dec. 31.

A video imaging technique demonstrates that the soft palate, the tissue at the back of the roof of the mouth, is more elongated and angled in patients with obstructive sleep apnea both when they sleep and when they are awake, according to a report in the February issue of the Archives of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery.

U.S. device manufacturers hope an "action program" adopted by the Japanese government in December, and tied to increased industry user fees, will significantly speed device approval times in the Japanese market.

MinXray has been awarded a contract with the U.S. Army to supply computed radiography (CR) digital x-ray imaging systems.

Amerinet, a U.S. healthcare group purchasing organization, has awarded Fujifilm Medical Systems USA a full-field digital mammography (FFDM) contract for their CR-based digital mammography systems.

Scientists from Finland, Germany and the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility have developed analyzer-based x-ray imaging, a new CT technique used for the early detection of breast cancer.

Medtronic has received Japanese regulatory approval for the Reveal DXinsertable cardiac monitor (ICM)–the first insertable cardiac monitorto be introduced in Japan.

Health Level Seven (HL7), a healthcare IT standards development organization, has released a ballot to approve its Personal Health Record System Functional Model (PHR-S FM) as a draft standard for trial use.