Brief summaries of recent medtech market and industry developments. This month we cover China’s switch to a centralized billing system, St. Jude Medical’s RESPECT PFO closure trial, FDA’s approval of HeartWare’s LVAD, and end-of-the-year medtech M&A.

The neurointerventional device market is one of the most dynamic areas in the field of neurology. Over the next four years, US neurointerventional procedures are expected to grow at a rate of nearly 18% compounded annually, reaching more than 197,000 procedures by 2015. The market information in this article was compiled from Medtech Insight’s new report "US Markets for Neurosurgical and Neurointerventional Surgical Products," #A590, published March 2011.

Brief summaries of recent medtech market and industry developments. This month we cover recent device M&A, Medtronic and Nile Therapeutics' collaboration in heart failure, Neoprobe and Naviscan PET Systems' deal in cancer detection, and Qiagen and Epigenomics AG's collaboration in a blood test for colorectal cancer.