Medtronic has entered a merger agreement to acquire the privately held Ardian for an up-front cash payment of $800 million, plus commercial milestones equal to the annual revenue growth through the end of Medtronics fiscal year 2015. Ardian develops catheter-based therapies to treat hypertension and related conditions.

CHICAGO--The transition to digital image management may have diminished the role of the radiologist as a member of the clinical team and made it more difficult for radiologists to remain connected with their clinical colleagues, according to a pilot study to be presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) in Chicago, Nov. 28 to Dec. 3.

LeMaitre Vascular has purchased Angiotech Pharmaceuticals Lifespan Vascular Graft manufacturing business for $2.8 million.

Cardinal Health is planning to acquire Kinray, a pharmaceutical distributor, for $1.3 billion in an all-cash transaction that will expand its ability to serve retail independent pharmacies in the northeastern U.S.

Infinitt, (Booth 2818) a developer of image and information management technologies for healthcare, is introducing its Infinitt Mobile PACS at this year's Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) conference, to be held Nov. 28 to Dec. 3 in Chicago.

Three Washington-based facilities have installed NovaRad radiology software systems, including NovaPACS, NovaRIS and ClinicPACS.

Infrastructure technology company EMC reported it will pay $2.25 billion to purchase Isilon Systems, a network-attached storage company.

Healthcare IT provider eRad, a division of RadNet, has been selected by Blythe, Calif.-based Palo Verde Hospital for its integrated RIS/PACS technology.