Astek Group could be holding some of the products your dentist uses every day. Through its operating subsidiary, Astek Innovations, the London-based holding company designs, manufactures, and distributes hundreds of disposable single-use items used in dental offices worldwide, with about 50% of sales in the US. The company's most profitable product, the Pro-Tip, is a disposable air/water syringe tip created by the company's founder and CEO, Dr. Alan Segal, a practicing dentist. Other Astek products include Kromopan alginates (used to make dental impressions), Alma denture products, and the Pegasus line of dental products.

Don't hold your breath for an asthma cure, but breathe easier knowing that medical device developer Asthmatx is working on it. Whereas current treatments consist of inhaled medicines, Asthmatx has developed a more invasive outpatient treatment system based on what it calls Bronchial Thermoplasty to treat severe asthma. Delivered by a catheter through the nose or mouth, its Alair System uses heat to reduce the airway smooth muscles which constrict during an asthma attack. The Alair System received FDA approval in early 2010. Asthmatx is a wholly owned subsidiary of medical device giant Boston Scientific.

Helping the world's edentulous and incontinent is a part of Astra Tech's mandate. The company, a unit of pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, concentrates on researching, developing, and manufacturing medical devices and implants used in odontology (dental surgery) and urology. Other products include wound drains and hemorrhoid ligators. Through international subsidiaries (including Astra Tech Inc. in the US), Astra Tech operates globally through more than 15 subsidiaries; more than 90% of its sales are made outside its home country. Key products include the Astra Tech Dental Implant System, the LoFric hydrophilic bladder catheter, and the Bellovac A.B.T autologous blood transfusion system.

Astra Tech makes products for two very different, yet equally important, parts of the body. The company manufactures medical devices for the fields of dentistry and urology. Its Astra Tech Dental Implant Systems include titanium screws and bone stimulation materials used to secure abutments, bridges, and dentures. Astra Tech also makes a line of catheters and catheter systems; its LoFric product is a hydrophilic urinary catheter for the intermittent emptying of the bladder. The company also offers some wound draining, blood transfusion, surgical suction products. Astra Tech's Swedish parent Astra Tech AB is a direct subsidiary of drug maker AstraZeneca.

Atossa Genetics,Inc is a healthcare company focused on the development and marketing of novel cellular and molecular diagnostic risk assessment products for breast cancer.Using the company's patented, FDA-approved Mammary Aspirate Specimen Cytology Test (MASCT) System, a nurse or physician’s assistant, can painlessly collect a sample of Nipple Aspirate Fluid (NAF) in about 10 minutes. The NAF sample contains cells (cytology) and molecular diagnostic biomarkers that are useful in finding cancers and pre-cancerous changes, especially Atypical Ductal Hyperplasia (ADH), which confers a higher risk of developing breast cancer.The FDA has determined, based on clinical trial data, that the MASCT System can be used in the determination and/or differentiation of normal versus premalignant versus malignant cells. Cytology changes in NAF have been shown to occur up to eight years before changes can be picked up by mammography. The Company's name comes from Atossa, daughter of Cyrius the Great and wife of Darius I, the King of the Achaemenid Empire. In about 470 BC she became the first woman in recorded history to be diagnosed with breast cancer.

ATS Medical keeps its products close to the heart. The company's main product is its ATS Open Pivot mechanical heart valve, which has been implanted in more than 140,000 patients worldwide. The valve was designed to lower the risk of blood clotting, reduce noise levels, and make the implantation procedure easier. ATS Medical also develops and markets tissue heart valves, cryosurgery (cold therapy) devices for cardiac procedures, and other cardiac surgery supplies. The company markets its products through a direct sales force in the US and some key international markets and through distributors elsewhere. ATS Medical was acquired by Medtronic for $370 million in 2010.

B. Braun Medical is the US arm of German medical supply firm B. Braun Melsungen. The company's products and services include a wide range of traditional and needleless IV systems and accessories, pharmaceutical devices, dialysis machines, critical care products, and vascular access and interventional product lines, as well as continuing education and training programs. B. Braun's customers include hospitals, outpatient surgery centers, and home care services companies. Its network of CAPS (Central Admixture Pharmacy Services) compounding pharmacies provides IV admixtures and solutions to hospitals, clinics, and home care providers throughout the US.

B. Braun Medical Ltd. is the UK arm of German medical supplier B. Braun Melsungen. The company manufactures and distributes a wide range of medical and surgical supplies. While it supplies such operating room basics as sutures and fluid administration equipment, it also makes larger computer-assisted surgery guidance systems and implant materials. Orthopedic implants and devices for trauma care are manufactured at the company's Sheffield headquarters. Its Sterilog facilities provide equipment sterilization services for hospitals. Its disposable products are destined for use in hospitals, medical offices, and home care settings. B. Braun Avitum provides dialysis treatment through 15 centers in the UK.

For more than 150 years, B. Braun Melsungen has made supplies to treat what ails you. With a history going back to 1839, the company makes a wide variety of medical and surgical equipment for clients all over the world. It operates through four divisions: Hospital Care (anesthesia and infusion equipment, IV solutions, and catheters); Aesculap (surgical instruments, sutures, orthopedic implants); Out Patient Market (diabetes, wound care, and nutrition products); and B. Braun Avitum (dialysis products). The company also operates dialysis clinics in Europe and provides contract manufacturing services. B. Braun plans to continue to operate as a family-run business, with no near-term plans to pursue a public offering.

Bacchus Vascular lets the good times keep flowing. The company makes the Trellis infusion system, which treats deep vein thrombosis and other clotting disorders. Where typical medication treatments used alone are effective in preventing further clots, they do not always remove clots. The Trellis system is designed to permanently dissolve blood clots in one quickly administered catheter-based procedure. Currently, the system is designed to treat only deep vein thrombosis, but the company is looking into how it can be used to treat other vascular disorders. The company is also focused on making its system an industry standard. Bacchus Vascular was acquired by health care equipment maker Covidien in 2009.

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