Medical device outsourcing company Vention Medical has acquired ATEK Medical Group, a leader in medical device assembly, packaging and injection moulding.

Dan Croteau, CEO of Vention Medical, said, “Our partnership with the ATEK Medical Group management team will allow Vention to provide an enhanced customer experience. Like Vention, ATEK Medical Group aspires to continually satisfy customers through intense focus on services that improve quality, innovation, and cost.”

The acquisition will incur a variety of combined capabilities and services, including product design and development, innovative component technologies, along with the manufacturing space of 175,000 square feet at its Costa Rica campus.

ATEK recently opened a second facility in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to support customer demands in the US.

Chris Oleksy, President of ATEK Medical, and Tom Houdeshell of ATEK Plastics, said that Vention’s experience and capabilities in design, components and assembly makes Vention “a very appealing partner for us”.

Vention Medical specialises in components and services used in interventional and minimally-invasive products, including medical balloons, advanced extrusions and heat shrink tubing, clean room injection moulding, assembly and packaging services.

Scottish medtech company Aircraft Medical has signed an exclusive INTERNATIONAL distribution agreement with global healthcare supplier Covidien.

Covidien will market and distribute Aircraft’s McGRATH MAC video laryngoscope (pictured) in the UK, the US, Japan, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand.

The new agreement complements Aircraft Medical’s existing distribution agreements in 35 countries, and will see the number of specialist sales and marketing professionals selling the McGRATH laryngoscope worldwide rise above 500.

Launched in October 2010, the portable McGRATH MAC – a development of the award-winning McGRATH design – is the first low-cost video laryngoscope designed to assist both routine and difficult airway intubation in hospitals.

In the US, the majority of the estimated 17 million intubations carried out each year are performed with Covidien products – opening a major market opportunity for the McGRATH MAC.

About 50 million intubation procedures take place globally each year, and that figure is predicted to rise by 5% per year.

“This agreement with Covidien is a significant step forward in the global rollout of the McGRATH MAC video laryngoscope,” said Matt McGrath, CEO of Aircraft Medical. “We expect to now further strengthen our position in the growing video laryngoscope market.”

James E. Willett, General Manager, Respiratory and Monitoring Solutions at Covidien, commented: “Our partnership with Aircraft Medical demonstrates our commitment to deliver clinical value and improve patient outcomes in fast-growing critical-care markets throughout the world.

“By integrating the McGRATH MAC video laryngoscope into our respiratory product portfolio, Covidien can provide critical-care practitioners with a complete intubation solution to meet the needs of the continuum of patients.”

Aircraft Medical, based in Edinburgh, specialises in video laryngoscopes.

Covidien, based in Dublin, is a leading global provider of healthcare products whose 2010 revenue was $10.4 billion.

The FDA has approved Calgary Scientific’s medical imaging device, ResolutionMD Mobile, as a mobile diagnostic app for use in the US.

The new technology gives physicians remote access to patient images and reports stored within any healthcare facility, enabling clinical diagnosis of the patient from any location.

Dr James A. Brink, Professor and Chair of the Department of Diagnostic Radiology at Yale University School of Medicine, said: “The ability to view diagnostic quality images on mobile devices promises to speed healthcare delivery, particularly for urgent conditions or after hours.”

The mobile app promises complete security and advanced capabilities through minimal bandwidth, even on 3/4G wireless. The technology also ensures that patient image data cannot be lost or stolen, and no highly sensitive or confidential patient data is ever retained on the device.

Dr Byron Osing, CEO and Chair of Calgary Scientific, said: “Lost or stolen patient data is a critical issue in the medical IT sector, with regular announcements of significant HIPAA compliance fines being levied and legal settlements in the tens of millions of dollars.”

“The FDA clearance of the ResolutionMD solution is a key strategic step forward for the Medical IT sector in enabling a high performance and secure ‘mHealth’ paradigm, as well as ensuring that vast regions of the world that are currently dependent upon wireless connectivity can now leapfrog directly into the realm of advanced medical solutions," added Dr Osing. 

Non-diagnostic versions of the app are already licensed under OEM agreements with global leaders in medical imaging and information technology.

The software has also been approved by Health Canada, has acquired the CE Mark for distribution in the EU, and is available on Apple iPhone and iPad devices. 

Calgary Scientific is a provider of accessible, advanced visualisation solutions in medical imaging and web, mobility and collaboration enablement technologies, used to help industries achieve secure access with their existing technology.