Cleveland Clinic has released its annual Top 10 Medical Innovations for 2011 list, which includes devices that employ imaging and informatics to enable better healthcare.

A panel of Cleveland Clinic physicians and scientists selected the devices and therapies, and unveiled them during the provider’s 2010 Medical Innovation Summit.

Among its Top 10 were:
# 10. Capsule endoscopy for diagnosis of pediatric GI disorders: A pill-sized camera captures 50,000 high-resolution images during its painless six- to eight-hour journey through the digestive tract, proving better than x-ray at detecting small bowel ulcerations, polyps and areas of bleeding.

# 6. Telehealth monitoring for heart failure patients: Miniature implantable monitors to measure pulmonary artery pressure daily and at-home devices to monitor weight, heart rate and blood pressure of heart failure patients allow doctors to adjust medication quickly, improving patient outcomes, while reducing re-hospitalizations.

#1. New molecular imaging biomarker for early detection of Alzheimer's disease: Currently, positive diagnosis of Alzheimer's is only possible upon autopsy. But a radioactive molecular imaging compound called AV-45 and a PET scan can allow doctors to "see" inside patients' brains to detect beta-amyloid plaques, the tell-tale signature of Alzheimer's.

The Top 10 Medical Innovations had to meet four major criteria for qualification and selection, which included:

• Significant potential for short-term clinical impact (either a major improvement in patient benefit or an improved function that enhances healthcare delivery);
• High probability of success;
• On the market or close to being introduced; and
• Sufficient data available to support its nomination.