Medtech in a Minute: AliveCor's Spat with Apple, Boston Scientific's Stent Problem, and More

Apple Faces Probe Over AliveCor's Infringement Claims

The U.S. International Trade Commission voted to investigate a claim made in April that was filed by AliveCor regarding the Apple Watch. AliveCor says it wants to block the importation of all the Apple Watches in the United States, and claims that the tech giant is infringing on three counts of ECG patents.

Boston Scientific Has a Big Stent Problem

Boston Scientific is recalling the Vici SDS and RDS venous stent system due to concerns that stents may migrate from where they are initially implanted. FDA said there have been 17 complaints and reported injuries related to this medical device recall, but no reported deaths.

Financings, Grants, and Clearances — Oh, My!

Emboline, a company that has developed an embolic protection device for transcatheter procedures, raised $55 million in a series D financing round. PolyVascular won a $2 million Small Business Innovation Research grant to support the further development of polymeric transcatheter valve, which is designed to advance options for children in need of pulmonary valve replacement. iRhythm Technologies’ wearable cardiac monitor is evolving with the help of two new FDA clearances. The company’s Zio Patch is now boasting an improved design and updated artificial intelligence.

And in case you missed our last Medtech in a Minute report...

Google Wants to Analyze Your Skin Problems

Google has developed an artificial intelligence-powered tool that can help people understand what’s going on with issues related to the skin. The company debuted the web-based application earlier this week during I/O, an annual developer conference. In a blog post, Google noted that the tool isn’t available yet, and has not been evaluated by FDA. Once the tool is launched, a person would use their phone’s camera to take three images of the skin, hair, or nail concern from different angles. The person will then be asked questions about skin type, how long they’ve had the issue, and other symptoms that help the tool narrow down the possibilities. The AI model analyzes this information and draws from its knowledge of 288 conditions to give a list of possible matching conditions that can then be researched further. Google said the model accounts for factors like age, sex, race, and skin types. 

Abbott Scores CE Mark for Navitor TAVR System

Abbott Laboratories now has CE mark for its Navitor transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) system for patients with severe aortic stenosis who are at high or extreme surgical risk. The device is implanted with Abbott's FlexNav delivery system, which received CE mark last year, and offers a slim design with a low TAVR delivery system profile, allowing treatment of people with vessels as small as 5 mm. 

More COVID-Fueled M&A

Companies with COVID-19-based diagnostics are proving to be extremely active on the M&A front this year. PerkinElmer is the latest firm to exercise its deal-making power, reaching an agreement to acquire Immunodiagnostic Systems for about $155 million. Perkin Elmer said the acquisition will help it grow its overall diagnostics business and its immunodiagnostics segment.