This article is excerpted from "Israel's Device Community: Finding New Models as Medtech Matures," In Vivo, October 2008. (Article number 2008800161.)

One of the most successful centers of medical device innovation, Israel is wrestling with that success and adopting new models to build on it. TriVentures, a new firm that is part incubator, part VC fund, is focusing on companies at the very earliest stages of development. At the other end of the spectrum, Ofer Hi-Tech is looking to roll up companies and create the next Kyphon.

By focusing on building a better delivery system, Intella hopes to cpature part of the booming stent market.

Diagnostic Imaging; X-ray. Xicon Technologies hopes to catpure x-rays digitally with a system that is useful for both radiography and fluoroscopy. Xicon's imaging system makes use of the photoconductor thallium bromide to directly convert x-rays to electronic signals, without the need for an image intensifier and a camera.