> CooperVision is expanding its worldwide recall of the encore 100 brand product line of contact lenses to include certain lots of encore100 Sphere contact lenses. The recall expansion comes after the company identified certain lots that did not meet its updated quality requirements due to the level of a silicone oil residue. CooperVision release
> St. Jude Medical ($STJ) is relocating its R&D facility to a new building in Sunnyvale, CA, maintaining its presence in the city. "We know they were looking into other cities to move, but our staff worked long and hard with them to identify a site in the city," Sunnyvale spokesman John Pilger said, as quoted by the San Jose Mercury News. "We are happy to see them stay in Sunnyvale." Report
> Boston Scientific's ($BSX) WATCHMAN left atrial appendage closure device has been implanted in the first patients in Latin America. The device is for patients with atrial fibrillation who are at risk for stroke and are eligible for long-term oral anticoagulation therapy such as warfarin. Boston Scientific release
> SonoSite ($SONO) has named Johnson & Johnson ($JNJ) vet Brian Noyes as VP of marketing for North and South America. SonoSite release
> Kalamazoo, MI-based Stryker's ($SYK) plans to layoff about 5% of its worldwide staff to cut costs is causing some worry. If the company does an across-the-board cut of its 2,250-person Kalamazoo-area workforce, roughly 112 local workers would lose their jobs. News
> The FDA has cleared the Calix PC spinal implant system from Ohio's X-spine. The product is an intervertebral body fusion system consisting of titanium-coated PEEK spinal implants. "The selective coating of plasma-sprayed titanium to a polymer substrate in an intervertebral implant is potentially the most important development in intervertebral fusion technology since the introduction of PEEK implants a decade ago," explains Dr. David Kirschman, president and CEO of X-spine. "The Calix PC provides the benefit of a metallic surface while preserving the desirable qualities of PEEK, namely bone-equivalent modulus and radiolucency." X-spine release
And Finally... Researchers have created a brain implant that could one day identify where a seizure starts in the brain and shut it down. Story