Nanosonics [ASX: NAN] has been granted approval from the regulatory body Health Canada to market and sell the company's ultrasound probe disinfector in Canada.

This approval has come earlier than expected for Nanosonics. The company will begin marketing the devices through an undisclosed dealer partner in early 2009.

Nanosonics hopes to use this Canadian venture as a stepping-stone into the lucrative US market once it obtains regulatory approval.

The company expects that the US FDA will grant the disinfector approval in the second half of next year.

The two prototype design phases of the automatic retractable needle developed by Analytica [ASX: ALT] have concluded, bringing the product one step closer to commercialisation.

Analytica had engaged a Brisbane-based design firm to help design the needle. Together the companies have designed and tested a prototype of the design.

The companies have confirmed that the design is feasible for large-scale manufacturing, and that the seal does not leak.

Analytica must still finalise the design specifications but expects to do so by early October. The company should be ready to produce production-equivalent units by the end of the year.

Ellex Medical Lasers [ASX: ELX] has established a direct sales channel in Germany, which will be formally launched over the weekend.

The new sales channel, Ellex Deutschland GmbH, will be launched at the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS) meeting in Berlin, which will run from September 13 to 16.

Sales from the German operation are expected to commence this month. Germany is one of the largest ophthalmic markets in the world, with over 8,000 ophthalmologists operating in the country.