Former beer exec to head Boston Scientific's peripheral vascular biz; USPTO's Kappos vows to clear patent backlog;

> For Boston Scientific Corp. to have any chance of reviving its ailing peripheral vascular business, it must rely on a 46-year-old executive who used to sell Budweiser and Bud Light for a living. Item

> A top Commerce Department official Tuesday vowed to unclog the country's beleaguered patent office, linking efforts to clear hundreds of thousands of patent applications to creating jobs and reducing America's trade deficit. The USPTO's David Kappos says patent reform is especially crucial to the Twin Cities' medical device community. Report

> Odyssey Medical may not be as big as Medtronic Inc. or Smith & Nephew, but it ships its products all over the world just like the bigger players in the Memphis medical device industry. Report

> STERIS Corporation (NYSE: STE) today announced that it has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) clearance for the STERIS SYSTEM 1E Liquid Chemical Sterilant Processing System. Release

> Medpace, a privately held, global, full-service clinical research organization (CRO) announced that it has acquired Symbios Clinical, a CRO dedicated to medical device clinical trials with expertise in pre-market, post-approval and post-market/outcomes trials. Symbios supports the full spectrum of medical device trials. Release

> Healthcare Enterprise Group said Reproductive Sciences, a company in which it holds a 27 percent stake, has received formal approval from the US Food and Drugs Administration to sell its Fertiligent artificial insemination device in the U.S. Story

And Finally... Cyborgs symbolize one of our greatest fears: that over time, we will become so enmeshed in our technology that we lose our humanity. But, medical technology has developed implantable heart pacemakers, insulin pumps, hearing aids, and even computer chips for the brain to treat depression and Parkinson's disease. In that sense, we are already on the path to becoming cyborgs. Item