CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Sony Corp. said Feb. 10 that it had acquired iCyt Mission Technology Inc., a University of Illinois Research Park biotech company.

Machines from iCyt count and sort cells and chromosomes for diagnostic and research purposes. iCyt’s customers include university research labs, hospitals and private labs.

Sony’s acquisition of a flow cytometry firm represents a new venture into healthcare for the electronics company. Keiji Kimura, Sony’s executive vice president, also cited his company’s bringing “expertise in manufacturing consumer products” to the enterprise.

The company iCyt, at www.i-cyt.com, was founded in 1995 and has 44 full-time employees.

Other health safety news:

• Kaiser Permanente awarded $346,000 to the National Association of Community Health Centers’ “Medical Home Initiative for America’s Safety Net.” The purpose of the Medical Home Initiative is to incorporate the patient-centered health model into community clinics in order to improve efficiency, effectiveness and timeliness; generate patient and community engagement in health, and to emphasize equity and eliminate health disparities.
• A new survey from Health Leaders Media says that non-medical factors such as fear of lawsuits and pressure from patients are a major influence in their decision-making when it comes to ordering tests. The No. 1 priority among all respondents is quality/patient safety, which retains that ranking in 2010, but with a smaller share than the 2009 results. Last year, 69 percent of respondents put quality/patient safety in their Top 3 list of priorities; for 2010, that dropped to 40 percent, still enough to be No. 1, but with a smaller consensus.

Mark Chassin, President of Joint Commission

OAKBROOK TERRACE, Ill.- Pre-existing medical conditions such as high blood pressure are putting women at greater risk for death during or shortly after pregnancy, according to a Joint Commission Sentinel Event Alert issued today.

Current statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that there are 13.3 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, well over the target of 3.3 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births set as part of the U.S. government’s Healthy People 2010 initiative. Common preventable causes that lead to maternal deaths include uncontrolled high blood pressure, undiagnosed fluid build-up in the lungs of women with pre-eclampsia, failure to pay attention to vital signs after a Cesarean section, and hemorrhage following a Cesarean section.

“It is a profound tragedy whenever a mother dies in childbirth. Fortunately, these are rare events,” said Mark R. Chassin, M.D., M.P.P., M.P.H., president, The Joint Commission, in a press release.

To prevent pregnancy-related deaths and illness, the Commission suggests that hospitals:

• Educate physicians and other caregivers about underlying conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes or morbid obesity that may put women at risk if they become pregnant.
• Use specific protocols to treat pregnant women who have, for example, experienced a change in vital signs, hemorrhage or pre-eclampsia.
• Train emergency room staff to consider whether female patients may be pregnant or recently pregnant.

For women who are identified as being at high risk because of existing conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes or morbid obesity, the Alert calls for referrals to experienced prenatal care providers who can provide specialized services. In order to avoid pulmonary embolism, The Joint Commission urges hospitals to make pneumatic compression devices available to high-risk patients undergoing a Cesarean section. Finally, hospitals are urged to evaluate whether pregnant women who are at high risk for dangerous blood clots (thromboembolism) should receive a special dosage of blood thinner after giving birth.

The standards require hospitals to have a process for recognizing and responding as soon as a patient’s condition appears to be worsening, and to develop written criteria for early warning signs that a patient’s condition is deteriorating. The standards also address staff response to concerns about a patient’s condition and educating patients and families about how to get help if they have concerns.

Much of the information and guidance provided in these Alerts is drawn from the Joint Commission’s Sentinel Event Database, a voluntary reporting systems for serious adverse events. The complete list and text of past issues of Sentinel Event Alert is at http://www.jointcommission.org/SentinelEvents/SentinelEventAlert/.

NORTH HILLS, Calif. — The infant product maker Munchkin Inc. purchased Lindam, the U.K.’s baby safety and nursery products brand. The purchase adds Lindam’s safety portfolio, including gates, to a Munchkin portfolio that includes categories such as bath, care, travel and feeding as well as pet categories through the company’s pet division, Bamboo.

“Munchkin’s purchase of Lindam accomplishes two strategic objectives for our future growth,” stated Steven B. Dunn, chairman and chief executive officer, Munchkin, Inc. Lindam is a privately held company based in the U.K. Lindam’s current baby care portfolio includes safety gates, baby monitors, feeding accessories, jumpers and other nursery products. (more…)

PHILADELPHIA – A new study by The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia published in the Journal of Traumatic Stress said a quarter of parents suffer from post-traumatic stress after their child’s accident.

Statistics said that one month after the incident, 27 percent of parents experienced acute stress disorder or significant traumatic stress symptoms, including re-experiencing, avoiding reminders and increased general anxiety or jumpiness. Of the group, 15 percent displayed symptoms more than six months after the injury. To help parents, the hospital set up the website www.AfterTheInjury.org to show parents how they can play a part in recovery, including these printed resources. (more…)

RICHMOND – It seems backwards, testing a drug for safety after it has been approved. But some researchers now are beginning to see the benefits.

“Everyone is looking at how can we study drugs post-marketing,” says Jürgen Venitz, MD, Ph.D. and Associate Professor, Department of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy at Virginia Commonwealth University / Medical College of Virginia. (more…)

PHILADELPHIA – Pediatric immunologist Jordan S. Orange, M.D., Ph.D. of The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia has received The Judson Daland Prize for Clinical Investigation. The Daland Prize recognizes outstanding achievements in patient-oriented research, and is awarded by the American Philosophical Society, an organization founded in 1743 by Benjamin Franklin.

Orange won the award for his contributions to research and treatment of inherited immune deficiency diseases, which include Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome.

Dr. Orange’s work involves the innate immune system, the body’s first defense against life-threatening infections and diseases. His particular research focus is natural killer cells, a major component of the innate immune system, which have an inherent ability to destroy cancer or virus-infected cells.

A close-in view of part of the new IBM microchip that can detect disease in blood. These serpentine tunnels prevent clogging and air bubbles from forming. Flickr photo by Luc Gervais, IBM Research - Zurich.

ZURICH – Scientists at IBM have created a small silicon chip that could detect diseases through tiny blood samples. Zurich scientists Luc Gervais and Emmanuel Delamarche, in collaboration with the University Hospital of Basel in Switzerland, have developed the new test that analyzes tiny samples blood for the presence of disease markers. (more…)