Highlights of the important and interesting in the world of healthcare:

We [heart] Detroit. New venture firm Detroit Venture Partners wants its portfolio companies to move their operations to the heart of Detroit in the hopes of transforming the Motor City into a vibrant startup community like Boston and San Francisco, according to Xconomy Detroit.

Senate defunds healthcare reform. The Senate voted 79-16 Tuesday afternoon to defund the implementation of both healthcare reform and financial-regulation reform, reports the Washington Post.

Med tech, not so hot. Slightly more than half of venture capitalists expect VC investing to make somewhat of a comeback in 2011, according to the  Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal. But the news is much better for Internet startups than for medical-device and biotech companies.

Community Health nurses’ strike likely. Tennessee-based Community Health Systems, the new for-profit owner of Forum Health in Youngstown, Ohio, likely faces a strike this week from nurses at its Wilkes-Barre (Pennsylvania) General Hospital for “ongoing illegal behavior and bad-faith bargaining,” reports the Youngstown Vindicator.

Mayo subject of civil lawsuit. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota said that a civil complaint has been filed in an existing federal suit against the Mayo Clinic and three related entities. The complaint alleges Mayo billed the federal government, including the Medicare and Medicaid programs, for surgical pathology services not rendered, according to KARE 11.

Old drugs find new uses. Finding new uses for old drugs is a tempting strategy for pharmaceutical companies, but the longer a medicine exists, the greater the challenge in recouping its costs, according to the Financial Times. One of the most famous examples of drug repurposing is Viagra, initially developed as a high blood pressure treatment.

Photo credit: Flickr user s o u t h e n’s

The funding means that Delphinus can finally begin the process of commercializing its SoftVue device, which has undergone about 10 years of research and development.

Unlike mammography, which is traditionally used to detect breast cancer, the SoftVue doesn’t use radiation or compression. Instead, the device employs ultrasound and computer algorithms to detect breast cancer, including in breast tissue that is too dense for effective use of mammography. With SoftVue, the breast is submerged in warm water and an ultrasound ring surrounds the breast, capturing images through the use of sound waves.

The SoftVue exam takes about a minute and is a “fraction” of the cost associated with a breast MRI, according to the company.

Delphinus is a spin-off created last year by the Detroit-based Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, whose researchers created the device. The Karmanos Institute held all of Delphinus’ equity until the $8 million round, which was led by Arboretum Ventures of Ann Arbor, Mich. Farmington Hills, Mich.-based Beringea LLC co-led the deal and was joined by North Coast Technology Investors, according to a statement from Karmanos.

More than 300 women were involved in initial clinical studies of the device. Delphinus has received sale commitments for the device  from “several” health institutions that have agreed to be part of the clinical studies, according to the statement.

Right now, the Karmanos Institute has the SoftVue’s only working prototype, but the funding will allow it to design and build the first 10 machines used in clinical studies. Those studies are expected to pave the way for Food and Drug Administration approval of the device, which is necessary before it can be sold in the U.S.

The funding will also allow Delphinus to hire about 20 staff — always welcome news in a foundering economy like Michigan’s.

The word “delphinus” is Latin for dolphin, according to the statement.

Midwest health care startups reported $593.2 million in investments across 140 companies through the first three quarters of 2009, according to the BioEnterprise Midwest Health Care Venture Investment Report.  In terms of dollars, that was down 34 percent from $896.7 million in 2008 and 41 percent lower than $1 billion in 2007.

But as for companies receiving investments, that was up 24 percent from 113 at the same point in 2008 and up 35 percent from 104 in 2007.

This year, investors are putting less money in health care companies in the region and nationwide as the investors try to deal with global financial crises and health care reform in the United States. Surprisingly, the number of Midwest companies receiving investments is on pace to set a record this year, BioEnterprise said in a written statement (pdf). So investors may be investing fewer dollars, but they’re spreading those dollars around more Midwest health care companies.

“Funding for health care is reduced due to the recession and concerns surrounding the impact of health care reform on innovation,” said Baiju R. Shah, president and CEO of BioEnterprise, the health care company developer in Northeast Ohio. ”Given the broader environment, it is encouraging to see so many Midwest health care companies attracting capital.”

By sector, biopharmaceutical companies have received $295 million so far this year, medical device companies, $173 million, and health care software and service companies, $125 million, BioEnterprise reported.

Ohio leads the pack this year with $136.7 million going to 45 companies during the first nine months. Minnesota is next with $134 million to 16 companies. Last year at this time, Minnesota was leading with $289.9 million and 20 companies to Ohio’s $178 million and 37 companies. Ohio and Minnesota regularly trade this lead.

In the 10 Midwestern states and one region surveyed by BioEnterprise, Minneapolis, Minn., led the first nine months of the year with investments of $133.3 million in 15 companies. Detroit/Ann Arbor, Mich., was next with $70.8 million invested in eight companies, followed by Cincinnati, Ohio, with $69.4 million invested in seven companies.

At this time last year, Minneapolis also led with $289.9 million and 20 companies, followed by Cleveland (including Akron, Ohio) with investments of  $152.4 million in 26 companies, and Pittsburgh, Pa., with $101.1 million invested in 12 companies.

Wayne State and Henry Ford signed a letter of intent to “conduct extensive and formal discussions” to develop a deeper partnership that would be implemented by the middle of next year.

Among the items up for discussion: combining the research efforts at both institutions with an emphasis on translational research, and adding a new research center in TechTown, Wayne State’s research and technology park. Wayne State received $115 million in grants last year and does strong research in areas of pediatric medicine and oncology, among others.

Wayne State also wants to increase the number of medical students that train at Henry Ford, and the school wants to create a “more comprehensive education in integrated health systems and best clinical practices,” according to the release.

The Detroit Free Press points out that Wayne State, which has one of the largest medical schools in the country, needs help solidifying the medical school because of ongoing problems with its other partner, Detroit Medical Center.

The two organizations already collaborate in several ways. Henry Ford already has a lab in tech town, that handles cytogenetic diagnosis, DNA and drug discovery. The hospital has been an academic affiliate of the school of medicine since 2002, and Henry Ford physicians and researchers who teach at Wayne State receive academic appointments as faculty.

[Photo courtesy of Flickr user Henry Ford Hospital]

The Detroit Science Center will this fall include the process of patients trying out the safety and effectiveness of new drugs or medical devices in its new health-care exhibit. It’s created through a $100,000 National Institutes of Health grant and efforts at the University of Michigan Health System to increase the participation in clinical trials.

But can informed consent be fun?

“It is a bit of a challenge to make it interesting and have substance,” said Dr. Michael Fetters, an associate professor in Michigan’s Department of Family Medicine who conceived of the exhibit. “The challenge for us to make it meaningful and not overwhelming.”

The clinical trials exhibit is at the tail-end of a broad 15,000-square-foot health exhibit planned by the science center. In one section, participants will be assigned a disease and move through the health-care process. Near the end, some will be “eligible” for a clinical trial.

The select few will learn about their study, its risks, benefits and alternatives, as well as how information will be confidential and the compensation they will receive, among other things. Participants will give their approval to joining the trial via an electronic touch screen, Fetters said.

“It really is an untested venue to try and inform the public’s opinion about what research is about, and dispel myths and fears about being in a research study,” Fetters said.

Fetters project is one of the more unique approaches in the hunt to increase participation in clinical trials. Vanderbilt University is leading the creation of Researchmatch.org — a national volunteer registry to recruit patients who want to participate in clinical trials.

Cleveland’s University Hospitals Ireland Cancer Center earlier this year released a video (at left) to better explain the clinical trials process.

The University of Michigan has used another two grants to take a grassroots approach to promoting clinical trials. In March, it hosted a panel discussion and screening of In The Family, a first-person account of coping with the consequences of genetic testing, at the local public library. The university also is using focus groups to redesign its Institute for Clinical & Health Research Web site and continuing to develop touch-screen kiosks scattered throughout the health system that match patients to clinical trials.

“There is a lot going on nationally,” said Dorene Markel, managing director of the Michigan Institute for Clinical & Health Research.

Fetters thinks the clinical trials exhibit serves two purposes: build an interest and understanding of clinical trials in people when they are very young, and rebuild confidence among skeptics of the ethics of clinical trials. Child participation in clinical trials is generally high, but it wanes significantly as people age, according to clinical trials research. He wants to cement awareness to increase participation in the long term.

Fetters also thinks the legacy of the Tuskegee syphilis study, in which participants were denied effective treatment, emboldens mistrust in minority communities about the honesty of clinical trials.

“It’s a place to see and experience,” Fetters said of the science center. “You can touch electric balls and your hair goes crazy. But it’s also a neutral trusting, environment.”

[Front-page photo courtesy of Flickr user sheep purple]