A Medical Device Daily

GE Healthcare (Waukesha, Wisconsin) said that it has signed an exclusive agreement with IntraMedical Imaging (Los Angeles), a developer of molecular imaging detectors and cameras, to provide advanced tools for surgeons to localize tumors and lymph nodes during cancer surgery. The announcement was made at the Society of Surgical Oncology's 58th Cancer Symposium in Atlanta.

The new product line consists of a universal control unit, called Node Seeker, and a dedicated set of detection probes. Surgical oncologists use these specialized radiation detection probes to identify sentinel lymph nodes, presently a standard of care technique for staging breast cancer and melanoma.

According to the agreement, GE will be the exclusive U.S. distributor of Node Seeker, developed by IntraMedical Imaging.

"Our new relationship with IntraMedical Imaging will enable us to help clinicians more accurately detect and stage cancer and, in turn, improve patient outcomes," said Lewis Dudley, leader of the surgery unit at GE Healthcare. "With this new guidance tool, the surgical oncologist will have more information during surgery."

The Node Seeker gamma probe is a tool used to determine whether the cancer has spread beyond the primary tumor by identifying affected sentinel nodes in the nearby lymph node basin. During surgery, these nodes are removed and taken to pathology to determine if the cancer has metastasized in the lymph nodes. This technique frequently precludes the complications associated with more radical surgical procedures.

GE Healthcare also will be the exclusive distributor of IntraMedical Imaging's PET-Probe. Those radiation detection probes utilize the power of PET (positron emission tomography) in surgery. With this scan guidance, surgeons can more precisely identify and excise the lesion as well as surgical margins for small amounts of remaining tumor, the company said.

Spire (Bedford, Massachusetts) reported the receipt of a SBIR Phase I grant for $157,277 from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH; both Bethesda, Maryland), to develop functionally graded calcium phosphate coatings for dental implants.

Hydroxyapatite and other forms of calcium phosphate are used to enhance bone fixation of a wide range of orthopedic and dental implants. However, current coating processes have several drawbacks and have limited flexibility in controlling coating crystallinity. The proposed technology will produce novel graded coatings that will allow rapid bone growth for initial stabilization of the implant as well as long term fixation.

Roger Little, president and CEO of Spire, said, "This program will provide Spire an opportunity to develop coatings with better control over the biological response to the implant. Dental implants are remarkably successful devices. However, most implants require multiple surgical procedures, and there is generally a delay between the time the implant is first inserted and the time the device can be used under the load of normal chewing."

He added: "Accelerated bone integration would lead to more immediate loading, resulting in less discomfort for the patient and more rapid use of the device. The dental implant market has grown to over $1 billion annually worldwide. The technology will fit perfectly into our business of providing advanced coatings and surface treatments for the medical device industry. If successful in dental implants, the technology could potentially be expanded into orthopedic and spinal applications as well."

In other grants/contracts news:

• The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (Baltimore), the federal government agency responsible for administration of the Medicare program, has awarded Palmetto GBA, a subsidiary of BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina (Columbia, South Carolina), a new contract expanding its role in answering 1-800-Medicare phone calls.

The new contract will employ 1,250, including 600 to be hired in June and 650 currently at work at Palmetto GBA in Columbia and Florence, South Carolina. All of the new jobs will be in Columbia. Recruiting efforts are being handled by Kelly Services in Columbia.

Palmetto's new contract is for two years, beginning in May, and will enable it to continue answering the phone lines and increases its calls to 50% of the national call volume.

• Image Management Systems and Support Corp. (IMSS; Fort Lauderdale, Florida), a company specializing in medical imaging systems integration, has awarded AT&T a three-year contract to provide a secure networking solutions. The agreement expands an existing relationship with AT&T for voice and data services. Terms of the contract were not disclosed.

IMSS provides subscribing healthcare institutions – including hospitals, laboratories and physicians – a secure online environment in which to store and share digital medical images and reports. Storing documents with IMSS is designed to enhance and expand medical experts' abilities to consult on diagnoses or recommended treatments, regardless of location or time of day.

AT&T will deploy an Internet Protocol Virtual Private Network and host the IMSS web servers in its Arizona Internet Data Center (IDC), ensuring around-the-clock access to data stored there and providing business continuity capabilities. AT&T owns and operates 26 IDCs around the world.

IMSS has been serving healthcare institutions primarily in the southeastern U.S. since 1999. The company is finalizing plans for facilities in Shanghai, China.