PercuVision, which has developed a device that guides medical staff through a urethral catheterizations, has received FDA clearance to market its device. The $29,000 device is essentially a catheter with a fiber-optic flashlight and camera at the end. The company built its DirectVision System to be a “visual guide” through the urethra that will cut down on problematic insertions into the urethra and cut health-care costs by eliminating costly procedures from catheter-related damage.

The FDA has granted 510(k) marketing clearance to EDAP for its newly designed, high-end Sonolith I-Sys robotized device. Sonolith I-Sys has been developed to provide a highly effective product configuration to address what is one of the largest lithotripsy markets in the world. The integrated lithotripter utilizes EDAP’s unique and patented electroconductive technology, an advanced shockwave approach differentiated by its superior ability to successfully disintegrate urinary stones in association with combined x-ray or ultrasound systems.

Scientists from Johns Hopkins University have tracked down a powerful set of cells in bladder tumors that seem to be primarily responsible for the cancer’s growth and spread. These cells use a technique that takes advantage of similarities between tumor and organ growth. The findings, reported in the July Stem Cells, could help scientists develop new ways of finding and attacking similar cells in other types of cancer.

A scientific team led by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has pinpointed a specific gene variation that causes increased risk of urinary bladder cancer. The findings, reported in August 2 edition in the advance online publication of Nature Genetics, people with the variant had a 30% to 40% higher risk for bladder cancer. Scientists hope the results may help determine high-risk people, leading to better survival rates and the development of chemopreventive interventions.