Medical device financing--primarily made up of late venture rounds--totaled just over $1 billion in Q3 2009, a 19% increase over the previous quarter. Acquisition dollars in the industry also surpassed $1 billion and included two $400 million-deals by Abbott. Most of the third quarter financing into in vitro diagnostics and research/analytical came from Qiagen's $628 million FOPO. And Agilent's $1.5 billion purchase of bioanalytical instrument maker Varian was the highest-value takeover.

Digital mammography's real potential is still unknown, though proponents argue it will find more cancers than conventional film screen mammography. Its acceptance could also lead to the development of adjunctive technologies that can differentiate cancerous from benign tissue.

Digital mammography is about to become available, but will payers pay more for a technology which isn't yet proven to improve patient outcomes?

Diagnostic Imaging; Breast Cancer. TransScan Medical is developing a new diagnostic modality that it will initially market to radiologists as an adjunct to mammography. The company's technology is based on the electrical impedance properties of tissue.