Medtronic announces that it has sealed a deal with RF Surgical Systems, Inc. The latter, which is a Carlsbad, California-based medical device company, agreed with the $235 million definitive agreement, although the details of the procurement were not yet publicly known.
The acquisition is said to affirm the business strategy of Medtronic in providing economic value to its consumers. Medtronic has been gearing towards partnering with different stakeholders in the healthcare sector to provide products and services that can contribute to the healthcare system, in terms of both clinical and economic values. The target of the company is to highlight the delivery of quality healthcare without having to spend large sums of money.
The RF Surgical Systems, Inc. has developed a system in which operating room staff may be aided in counting surgical items such as sponges, gauze and towels prior to closing a bodily area during an operation. The detection system devised by the company involves the use of low radio frequency signal to detect the presence of surgical items in the blood, bone or tissues. This innovation intends to prevent incidents wherein such items are left inside the patient's body after a surgical procedure, reduce the necessity of additional medical testings and cause overall elevation of efficacy levels inside the operating theater.
Hospital and medical facilities have existing policies and programs regarding counting protocols; however, incidental occasions of surgical staff leaving sponges, towels and gauze are still reported. This may require the patient to undergo more diagnostic examinations and procedures, which may not be required for his/her original condition. Aside from the extra costs it would entail, surgical items left within the body may result in fatal complications such as infection, excessive bleeding, intra-abdominal abscess and intestinal obstruction.
The priority of Medtronic is their patients and its daily target is to enhance the safety and prognosis of their patients, which is parallel to the technology developed by RF Surgical Systems, Inc., says Chris Barry, senior vice president and president of the Surgical Innovations business, Minimally Invasive Therapies Group at Medtronic. The emergent system is also an uncomplicated and inexpensive solution to preventable surgical complications, he adds.
RF Surgical Systems, Inc. is also equally pleased with the latest team-up because it also believes that the commitments of both companies are aligned with each other, says John T. Buhler, CEO of RF Surgical, Inc. As the company attempts to establish their technology to be the standard of care across the globe, it is also looking forward to more emergent systems that the combined capabilities of the two companies may offer, he adds.
The deal is expected to come to its final stages by August 2015. Medtronic has made a total of eight acquisitions since it announced its purchase of Covidien in June 2014.
Photo: Artur Bergman | Flickr
