AAAASF named authorized agency
The New York state department of health has designated the American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities (AAAASF) as an authorized agency to be used by office-based surgery practices to meet new state accreditation requirements. New York law requires that office-based surgeries requiring moderate sedation, deep sedation, or general anesthesia, and certain liposuction procedures be performed in a setting that has obtained and maintained accreditation from a state-approved entity.

MMI-USA introduces Smart Toe Memory Implant
MMI-USA, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Memometal Technologies, Inc., France, announces the availability of the new Smart Toe™ Intramedullary Memory Implant for hammertoe arthrodesis. The implant is a surgical option to K-wire fixation.

The Smart Toe implant is inserted after being cooled and is activated by the patient’s body heat. Heat expands the implant, creating compression across the joint line to encourage joint fusion and healing.

More information about the new Smart Toe implant is available at www.mmi-usa.com

Former patient invents prosthetic system
Born without a right forearm, Debi Latour, an occupational therapist at Shriners Hospitals for Children—Springfield (Mass.), knows what it’s like to use an artificial limb. Her personal and professional experiences led her to invent a prosthetic system, formally named the Ipsilateral Scapular Cutaneous Anchor System, or “Anchor.”

The Anchor system requires either a tight-fitting socket or a silicone sleeve that locks into the forearm of the prosthesis, eliminating the need for a harness over the opposite shoulder. A cable clips into a metal button in the center of a plastic patch that adheres to the skin at the shoulder blade with a special tape. The artificial limb is operated by rounding the shoulder of the involved side. Using both arms means one arm will not get bigger than the other.

“The Anchor is a terrific addition to our prosthetic management program for upper limb amputees,” said Steven Wenner, MD, director of the Upper Limb Deficiency Program at the Springfield Shriners Hospital. “It satisfies an immediate need, is elegant in design, simple to fabricate, and requires minimal training to use.”

Later this year, the Springfield Shriners Hospital will share knowledge about the Anchor device with other Shriners Hospitals through a telemedicine conference.

GE Healthcare launches mobile BMD scanner
GE Healthcare has introduced a mobile system for bone mineral density (BMD) and body composition testing to help expand the reach of healthcare to more patients while making diagnostic tools more accessible to physicians and clinicians. At the 93rd annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America, GE debuted the “fan-beam” x-ray bone densitometer technology in a mobile van using Dual-Energy X-ray Absorbtiometry, or DEXA scanning, to measure and calculate bone, fat, and muscle mass.

The mobile DEXA system can deliver the benefits of BMD patient care to smaller, rural hospitals and clinics that don’t have a dedicated system. For more information, visit www.gehealthcare.com