Venture investments held strong and steady across healthcare in 2011, with medical devices finishing a close second to biopharmaceuticals in dollars invested and healthcare IT seeing a substantial increase over the previous year.

While the developing technology is expensive, KLAS, the Orem, Utah-based research firm, found that providers utilizing PET/CT imaging technology save time and improve image resolution, based on a survey of providers. However, GE Healthcare edged out Philips and Siemens in KLAS’ first report on PET/CT vendors, titled “PET/CT 2011: New Technologies in Focus.”