Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE:PHG, AEX:PHI) has joined forces with AstraZeneca, Merck & Co., BG Medicine and Humana to form the High-Risk Plaque (HRP) Initiative to research and advance the understanding, recognition and management of high-risk plaque, the primary underlying cause of heart attacks.

Agfa HealthCare announced that it has succesfully installed ORBIS in its Italian pilot site, the Italian Malzoni Hospital (Clinica Medica Malzoni) in Avellino, one of the hospitals of the Malzoni Hospital Group (Gruppo Malzoni). ORBIS is Agfa HealthCare's leading Hospital and Clinical Information System (HIS/CIS), that manages the entire patient-centric information flow through all hospital departments.

ORBIS (TM) Hospital Information System (HIS) is now in operation in all nine Vivantes healthcare institutions. Ongoing implementation of Picture Archiving and Communication System IMPAX (TM), and ORBIS RIS (Radiology Information System) will complete single source-solution from Agfa HealthCare to replace heterogeneous system arena.

Dräger acquires 10 percent of Siemens AG shares in its Joint Venture Dräger Medical AG & Co. KG for a sales price of approximately 110 million EUR and increases its stake to 75 percent. At the same time, Siemens AG waves the sales option of its shares originally agreed in the Joint Venture contract and retains its 25 percent holding in the Dräger Medical Group.

A new milestone on two levels: Siemens recently introduced the Axiom Artis dBA Twin biplanar radiography system, its latest imaging system for universal angiography and neuroradiology. Together with the new flat detector technology and syngo DynaCT software, the system delivers unique acquisitions thanks to its extremely high contrast and soft tissue differentiation.

InterSystems Corporation announced that its Ensemble rapid integration software ranked number one for interface engines in the survey of healthcare enterprises conducted annually by KLAS Enterprises LLC, a leader in healthcare technology research. The awards were announced in the 2006 Top 20: Year-End Best in KLAS Awards report.

While the festive period has left some people overweight, the consumer electronics market is now looking rather thin. However, according to a report by Cambridge UK analysts Wireless Healthcare, some consumer electronics companies are exploiting the growing demand for devices and services that help people remain trim, fit and mentally alert.