The U.S. FDA granted Avicenna.AI SAS 510(k) clearance for Cina-VCF, its artificial intelligence-based solution that detects unsuspected vertebral compression fractures (VCFs) in patients undergoing chest or abdomen CT scans. The company hopes that early detection of VCFs will allow patients to be checked for osteoporosis and start treatments early to reduce the risk of their fracture deteriorating.

The U.S. FTC’s campaign against the Orange Book listing of patents claiming device components gained momentum when a federal judge in New Jersey ordered Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. to delist five device patents pertaining to its Proair HFA (albuterol sulfate) inhaler.

Focused on oral therapies for obesity, diabetes and rare diseases, Boston-based Syntis Bio Inc., which raised $15.5 million through seed funding last year, emerged from stealth to advance its synthetic tissue-lining technology and a pipeline of candidates.

The granting of emergency use authorization by the U.S. FDA to Roche AG for its four-in-one molecular test for SARS-CoV-2, Influenza A/B viruses and respiratory syncytial virus will allow the company to quickly bring the test to near-patient care environments ahead of the flu season, to address a real need in the marketplace, Ian Parfrement, head of the point of care customer area, at Roche Diagnostics, told BioWorld.

Sherlock Biosciences Inc. is on the case of the missing tests – the lack of diagnostic testing for sexually transmitted infections, that is. Sherlock’s over-the-counter molecular, disposable tests combine CRISPR and synthetic biology chemistries to provide results in 30 minutes in the privacy of the user’s home.

The U.S. FDA is keen to develop tools for oversight of artificial intelligence (AI) as demonstrated by a batch of research projects designed to inform the review of medical applications of AI. The agency’s concern is that there is a dearth of “robust evaluation methods” for evaluating AI products, thus the need for tools that will allow the agency to clear or approve such products with an assurance that these algorithms are safe and effective for their intended use.

The U.S. National Institutes of Health has jumped into the artificial intelligence pool with a prognostic that predicts a patient’s response to immune checkpoint inhibitors as cancer therapies.

Dublin-based Medtronic plc. has issued an urgent device correction letter to customers using the company’s Stealthstation robotic surgical system due to a software error that may provide inaccurate information about the location of the system’s surgical tip in the cranial anatomy.

Kardium Inc. landed $104 million in new financing for its Globe mapping and ablation system for atrial fibrillation, positioning it to enter the rapidly changing field in the U.S. The funds will allow the company to finish its PULSAR trial, secure FDA approval and launch its pulsed field ablation system commercially, Kardium Chief Financial Officer Koert VandenEnden told BioWorld.

The U.S. appeals court for the District of Columbia has reversed a lower court’s ruling that the device industry cannot appeal a Library of Congress rule that allows third-party access to the software used to govern the operations of medical devices. While the latest outcome in this controversy is a win for device makers, the trajectory of this case is anything but certain as the next step may be an en banc hearing at the circuit court or an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.