Brief summaries of recent medtech market and industry developments. This month we cover a new GAO report that ups the pressure on the medical imaging market; Cordis Corp.'s suspension of its PFO closure device program; Atritech's PMA for stroke prevention; Zimmer's acquisition of Abbott Spine; and the US market for contraception devices and procedures.

A business development panel representing the emerging group of mid-sized device dealmakers that are actively looking for innovative technology from small companies discusses the current state of medtech dealmaking.

A growing number of medical device start-ups are using a variety of strategies-angel investors, government grants, and corporate partners-to go all the way to commercialization or exit without relying on venture capital funding. The trend away from venture financing is gaining advocates, particularly among device start-ups with unconventional business models or products that play in small market niches. In the process, these new financing models are giving small device companies who have been turned down by VCs or found their terms difficult to swallow, some hope.

The early-to-mid 1990s marked the rise of a huge wave of interest in women's health among device start-ups and investors. Several women's health companies, including Conceptus, were among the ill-fated IPO Class of 1996 that largely failed to meet investor expectations. Most of these start-ups are no longer around, but Conceptus re-trenched and shifted its emphasis from fertility to a new approach to sterilization, which finally received FDA clearance late last year. The company has survived the pitfalls that derailed other women's health start-ups, most notably a customer group that is difficult to access and slow to adopt new technology, and a challenging reimbursement environment, but in doing so, may be the exception that proves the rule.