An analysis of acquisitions of privately held venture-backed medical device companies delivers some signs of hope as well as important warnings for medical device VCs hoping to find a lucrative exit in this difficult market.

Ascension Health Ventures, already the preeminent hospital-sponsored venture group, secured $200 million from its original sponsor, Ascension Health, as well as two other Catholic-based hospital systems.

Only 1% of US hospitals are filmless, despite years of hype about the advantages of transmitting, viewing and storing diagnostic images digitally. Two-year-old Emageon has designed a suite of services and software that address some of the reasons hospitals are hesitant to adopt digital archiving and transmission, notably cost and technical difficulties of handling large images digitally.

A preview of the emerging health care companies profiled in the current issue of Start-Up. This month's profile group, Proteomics, features profiles of Integrative Proteomics Inc. and Syrrx Inc. Plus these selected Start-Ups across Health Care: Emageon Inc., Embolic Protection Inc., Genosis Ltd., invivodata inc. and TheraMed Inc.