For Volcano Therapeutics, the addition of Jomed's IVUS business is both an addition to and diversification beyond its current play in thermography as a diagnostic tool to detect vulnerable plaque.

Abbott Laboratories broke into the spinal market with its acquisition of Spinal Concepts, and expanded its interventional cardiology product line by acquiring Jomed's coronary and peripheral interventional product lines. Both deals reflect the increasing convergence in medical devices of drug and device therapies.

Over the past several years, Swiss Jomed has been one of the few small European stent companies to grow into a major cardiovascular device company. Last year's successful IPO was testimony to the company's strong sales growth. But it was two deals the company did following soon after the IPO, the acquisitions of US-based MediDyne and EndoSonics, that will test whether Jomed is ready to break out of the pack and compete on a truly global scale with medical device giants such as Guidant and Medtronic.

Traditional scientific wisdom holds that heart attacks originate from severe blockages of the artery created by atherosclerosis, the progressive build up of plaque in the coronary arteries. Recent research indicates, however, that certain kinds of "vulnerable plaque" may trigger acute coronary events, creating demand for new diagnostic tools to identify and characterize the plaque and new treatments. The field is moving at a dizzying pace and is beginning to attract a handful of start-ups and venture capitalists; these see a huge opportunity, but also recognize the challenges inherent in changing entrenched approaches to treatment.