Body Area Networks Hit the Big Time

These tiny electronic devices, which can be implanted or worn externally, can remotely monitor the heart, glucose, pulse and other vital data via a PC, and, more recently, through a wireless network. For mobile applications, the wireless chips themselves fall into a loosely defined category called body area networks (BANs). BAN has been talked about for years, but the technology is moving into the limelight.
Chip Design

Results of AdvaMed Medical Device Tax Study Challenged

A Bloomberg Government analysis finds the study is not credible. Its assumptions are flawed, in part because it exaggerates the degree to which spending on health is affected by price increases.
Bloomberg Business Week

FDA Targets Medical Devices with Alarms

The Food and Drug Administration is taking steps to reduce “alarm fatigue’’ in hospitals by intensifying its pre-market review of medical devices that sound alarms and could contribute to the desensitization of nurses - a problem that The Boston Globe reported last year was linked to hundreds of deaths.
Boston Globe

Boston Scientific Partners with Telecom Companies to Increase Telehealth Capabilities

Boston Scientific Corporation has signed an agreement with telecommunications company Vodafone Global Enterprise to provide cellular service to drive clinical data on Boston Scientific's cardiac monitoring devices. 
Information Week

Health Reform Goes to Court

The Supreme Court finished Monday the first of three days of arguments on the fate of the Obama administration's overhaul of the nation's health care system. The justices appear unlikely to allow an obscure tax law to derail the case.
CBS News

—Jamie Hartford is the associate editor of MED and MD+DI. Follow her on Twitter @readMED.