• CareFusion (San Diego) said that it has expanded its Pyxis perioperative offerings that integrate with operating room information systems (ORIS), incorporate radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology and include new services. The company says that by integrating Pyxis ProcedureStation system with a hospital's ORIS, CareFusion helps streamline workflow and improve revenue cycle management. The new offering automatically incorporates surgical supply information directly into patient records and increases preference card and case pick/costing accuracy, freeing nurses to spend less time on non-clinical activities and more time with patients. CareFusion's perioperative integration partners include Picis, Surgical Information Systems (SIS), Epic, and others.

• CHF Solutions (Brooklyn Park, Minnesota) has introduced two products in its Aquapheresis therapy product line: a kink-resistant, dual lumen peripheral venous catheter, and an upgrade to the company's Aquapheresis Aquadex FlexFlow device that automatically limits the fluid removal rate and enhances patient monitoring. The coiled dual lumen extended length catheter (cdELC) is a peripheral catheter designed to deliver a steady and reliable blood flow in a wide variety of fluid overloaded patients. The 6Fr catheter has unique features, such as a flexible stainless steel coil, an offset tip and a reverse taper, to minimize disruptions to therapy. The catheter combines the steady blood flow of a central venous catheter with the proven advantages of a peripheral catheter profile.

• Fujifilm Medical Systems USA (Stamford, Connecticut) has introduced the FCR Prima digital x-ray system. Fujifilm says this products is created specifically to meet the x-ray needs of low volume private practices. It includes a compact CR reader, an electronic viewing workstation, and an archiving system, enabling facilities to quickly and easily transition to a softcopy imaging environment. The FCR Prima is packaged with the FCRView, which combines a softcopy viewing system and digital archive system so facilities can initiate and preview exposures, process and print studies, and back up patient data all from one workstation. Fujifilm Medical Systems USA

• HemCon Medical Technologies (Portland, Oregon) reported the introduction of the ChitoGauze dressing platform. ChitoGauze is a z-folded hemostatic chitosan dressing, designed for battlefield and acute care use and is proven effective on severe, arterial bleeding. The initial product design is available for the military medical market in a 4 inch by 4 yard flexible and conforming gauze dressing. HemCon's manufacturing process and the natural characteristics of chitosan together create the ChitoGauze mechanism of action which slows blood movement through the dressing, offering a local hemostatic solution. The chitosan in ChitoGauze, without the addition of pro-clotting agents, binds red blood cells and platelets on the dressing's surface which provides localized clotting, independently from the normal clotting cascade. Localized clotting mitigates risk of emboli formation which can be found through the use of pro-clotting agents.

• Ortho Clinical Diagnostics (Raritan, New Jersey) reported FDA approval of the VITROS Anti-HCV assay for use on the VITROS 5600 Integrated and 3600 Immunodiagnostic systems. The VITROS Anti-HCV assay is an in vitro diagnostic immunoassay for the qualitative detection of immunoglobulin G antibody to hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV) in human serum and plasma. It can be run with excellent precision, sensitivity, low sample volume requirements and quick, random access results on the VITROS systems, with results readily available in 55 minutes.

• St. Jude Medical (St. Paul, Minnesota) reported FDA approval of its Accent RF pacemaker and Anthem RF CRT-P (cardiac resynchronization therapy pacemaker). The Accent and Anthem product family features RF telemetry that enables secure, wireless communication between the implanted device and the programmer used by the clinician or a home monitor. Features of the pacemakers include AT/AF Alerts, AutoCapture Pacing System technology that measures the heart's reaction to pacing beat-by-beat, and the VIP algorithm that enables the heart's intrinsic rhythm to prevail when appropriate, thereby reducing unnecessary ventricular pacing.