Falling stent sales hit Abbott; Quest surprises with higher-than-expected earnings;

> Abbott Laboratories ($ABT) fell the most in two months after fourth-quarter sales came in below analyst estimates. Sales of its heart stents fell due to competition. Story

> Quest Diagnostics cheered analysts with higher-than-expected quarterly earnings, sending its shares up more than 6%. Report

> While a banner is touting India's launch of a $35 tablet computer, Medtronic ($MDT) is eyeing the potential to launch a similar low-cost revolution in medical devices like pacemakers. News

> Device manufacturers want the U.S. government and health insurers to cover weight-loss surgery in an effort to help more obese Americans. Report

> Zeltiq Aesthetics ($ZLTQ) and the charitable trust of Massachusetts General Hospital are suing Clinipro and its French representative for alleged patent infringement. Zeltiq, which has developed a non-invasive procedure that selectively reduces fat through controlled cooling, is seeking monetary damages and an injunction against further sales of Clinipro's LipoCryo device. Zeltiq release

And Finally... Simon Fraser University's James Wakeling is adding to medical imaging tools with a new signal-processing method for viewing muscle activation details that have never been seen before. The method uses ultrasound imaging, 3-D motion-capture technology and data-processing software to scan and capture 3-D maps of the muscle structure in 90 seconds--previous methods took 15 minutes. Release