Innovation, influence and business in America's medical cities.

Here are some of the top stories at MedCity News this week:

– Has Diabetes Sentry Products Inc.’s time finally come? Or has the start-up already missed the boat? The Orono-based company, a semi-finalist in this year’s Minnesota Cup, hopes to raise $1 million to $1.5 million to develop a portable device that alerts diabetic patients when their blood sugar levels fall dangerously low. But some experts wonder if the technology is outdated, given today’s advances in integrated glucose monitors and insulin pumps. That wasn’t the case in the 1990s when a group of engineers at Teledyne Avionics in Virgina created the watch-like device whose sensor monitors skin temperature and perspiration. The device then alerts the patient to possible signs of hypoglycemic shock.

– Mayo Clinic has created a social media center that will train other hospitals in the use of social media tools like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Mayo is billing the new venture as “a first-of-its-kind social media center focused on healthcare,” according to a statement from Rochester, Minnesota-based hospital. Mayo has proven itself to be perhaps the most effective hospital in employing social media, in addition to other consumer-focused technology efforts. For example, the health system recently established a presence in the Second Life virtual world, and launched a venture to sell smartphone applications based on Mayo research.

– Renowned hand surgeon-to-the-professional-athlete Dr. Thomas Graham is returning to Cleveland as chairman of Cleveland Clinic Innovations, the corporate venturing unit of the Cleveland Clinic. Graham, 47, will be the first Cleveland Clinic Innovations chairman since Dr. Jay Yadav left the Clinic in 2006. With his arrival, the unit that commercializes Clinic inventions will go back to reporting to Dr. Joseph Hahn, chief of staff in the Professional Staff Affairs Office. Eventually, Graham is expected to set up his practice to care for professional athletes’ and entertainers’ hands and wrists in Cleveland. In addition to being an orthopedic surgeon, Graham also is a businessman, entrepreneur and inventor.

–St. Jude Medical Inc. (NYSE: STJ) sued a former top executive this week, accusing Joseph McCullough of violating a non-compete agreement for going to work for rival Medtronic Inc. (NYSE: MDT) in Fridley, Minnesota. St. Jude fears McCullough will share confidential information — especially about the minimally invasive heart valve market, which the St. Paul, Minnesota, medical device maker is about to enter — with its top rival. So St. Jude wants a judge to keep McCullough from sharing those secrets.

– The Nestle Research Center in Lausanne, Switzerland has donated $500,000 to the Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner Research Institute to study the effects of a whole-grain diet on a person’s body composition and energy metabolism. It would be one of the largest controlled studies of its type on whole grains, and the first to use advanced body composition measurement techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at the Clinic. Scientists at Nestle Research Center will use state-of-the-art metabolomic analyses to examine changes in metabolism. The study is more evidence that the Cleveland Clinic is becoming a leader in the wellness market, which one economist believes could reach $1 trillion this year.