The field of women's health is one of the most progressive medical technology sectors in the US, driven by the aging population, diagnostic advances in deadly ovarian and colorectal cancer, and medical device innovations in gynecologic and urogynecologic disease management, including a shift toward minimally invasive surgery (MIS) techniques and robotics and the addition of a new field: bariatric gynecology. At the WH 2.0 Consensus Conference on Women's Health, held recently in Los Angeles, experts agreed that advances in medical technology are promising better detection and treatment of a host of diseases impacting both premenopausal and postmenopausal women. However, challenges remain in managing obesity-related disease and improving screening for often-undetected cancers in women.

EBI’s device team reviews of the top news stories in the medical device industry in 2011. Top stories include: 510(k) reform, user-fees, VC money dries up for medtech, hot clinical spaces of the year, where private investment dollars went in 2011, big changes at J&J, and the new physician/hospital alignments and their impact on the medical device industry.

At Elsevier Business Intelligence's February IN3 West conference, a panel of leading device venture investors, who remain committed to and are actively doing deals in medtech, discussed how the recent recession has affected device investing and how much, if at all, that world has changed as a result.

For the first time in five years, large cap, mid cap and financial buyers are all showing a willingness to acquire medical device companies thanks to improving credit markets and strong cash reserves.