Daily News Briefs

CAS Medical Systems Inc. has been awarded a Phase I Small Business Innovative Research Program grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke of the National Institutes of Health to continue development of a noninvasive brain oxygenation monitor using near-infrared spectroscopy. . . . IRIDEX Corp. announced it has completed an agreement with MERIDIAN, a company based in Thun, Switzerland, to be the exclusive US distributor for the MICRORUPTOR V Nd:YAG laser system. The MICRORUPTOR V photodisruptor, built using Swiss optics provided by Haag-Streit, is a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser system used primarily to treat patients with forms of secondary cataracts, glaucoma or fine membranes near the pupil that interfere with vision. . . . Ultratech Stepper Inc., a San Jose, Calif.-based supplier of photolithography systems used to manufacture semiconductors and nanotechnology devices, announced it delivered two alpha laser spike anneal systems in the second half of 2002 and that it has booked one preproduction system to be delivered at the end of 2003.