A University of Illinois at Chicago researcher will test whether brain stimulation combined with gait training can improve patients’ ability to walk after a stroke, under a $1.5 million grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

AngioDynamics (Nasdaq:ANGO), a leading provider of innovative, minimally invasive medical devices for vascular access, surgery, peripheral vascular disease and oncology, today announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared an expanded indication for its AngioVac cannula for venous drainage during extracorporeal bypass for up to six hours to include removal of fresh, soft thrombi or emboli.

Cardiovascular Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSII) (CSI), announced today it has received FDA clearance of its new Diamondback 360®60cm Peripheral Orbital Atherectomy Systems (OAS) for the treatment of peripheral arterial disease (PAD).

Cordis Corporation announced today that it has received European CE Mark for its RENLANE™ Renal Denervation System for the treatment of patients with resistant hypertension and has completed the first successful cases in Europe. The RENLANE™ System consists of a unique, helical shaped, irrigated, multi-electrode ablation catheter with a multi-channel radiofrequency (RF) ablation system.

Aligned with its commitment to provide innovative medical technology for the interventional treatment of peripheral artery disease, Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT) has initiated the European launch of the TOTAL across crossing catheter, which recently received the CE (Conformité Européene) mark as a tool for improving blood flow through narrowed or occluded lower-extremity arteries, including those in the especially challenging below-the-knee (BTK) vessel bed.

Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX) has announced the U.S. launch and first use of the OffRoad™ Re-Entry Catheter System, an important addition to the company's portfolio of tools to treat complete arterial blockages in the major arteries of the legs.  These blockages, called chronic total occlusions (CTOs), are associated with advanced peripheral artery disease (PAD).  The first use of the OffRoad System was performed by J.A. Mustapha, M.D., director of Cardiac Catheterization Laboratories, director of Endovascular Interventions, and director of Cardiovascular Research at Metro Health Hospital in Wyoming, Mich.

Continuing to expand the role of endovascular aortic repair, Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT) has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the Valiant Captivia Thoracic Stent Graft System to be used in the treatment of type B aortic dissections, a serious cardiovascular condition associated with high morbidity and mortality in which the upper segment of the body's main artery has become torn along the innermost layer of the vessel wall.

Temple University Hospital (TUH) could be among the first U.S.-based hospitals to test a new device known as a multilayer stent in patients suffering from aortic aneurysm, a condition characterized by the formation of a potentially life-threatening bulge in the aorta. Approved in Europe in 2010, the device has already been used to help hundreds of European patients with the condition, and Grayson H. Wheatley III, MD, FACS, Associate Professor of Surgery at Temple University School of Medicine, and Director of Aortic & Endovascular Surgery at TUH, thinks thousands more could benefit in the United States.