Kitchener, Ont. medical company receives Health Canada licence for tiny camera

A tiny camera that allows doctors to see inside blood vessels has now been licensed by Health Canada. CTV’s Spencer Turcotte gets an update from the Kitchener c

Big things are on the way for one tiny camera.

A made-in-Kitchener medical imaging device, which allows doctors to see inside the brain’s blood vessels, has recently been licensed by Health Canada.

CTV News stopped by Vena Medical on Wednesday — and Adam Karamath, the company’s senior director of commercial operations, showed a demo of the camera in use.

“Previously, this patient had multiple strokes beforehand,” explained Karamath, as the super thin camera weaved through blood vessels, uncovering vital information. “The cause of the stroke has been identified and this is what’s called an ulceration.”

The camera is said to be the first intravascular imaging device of its kind.

“The Vena MicroAngioscope is the only tiny camera that’s able to go inside the small blood vessels in someone’s brain,” said company co-founder Phillip Cooper, who added that it is the only imaging device with licensed neurovascular indication worldwide.

Physicians often rely on fluoroscopy, which essentially relays a two-dimensional black-and-white image, to see what is happening inside the body. But the MicroAngioscope, by comparison, is less than one millimetre in diameter and provides a high-resolution, real-time, full-colour look at the vessels.

“You may have an obstruction in an artery, but you don’t know what it is. So, it could be a blood clot. It could be some sort of plaque,” Cooper said. “If you treat it properly the first time with this new information, the patient could do better.”

The camera has already been used in over 40 procedures across Canada, including at The Ottawa Hospital, Toronto Western Hospital, University of Alberta Hospital and Royal University Hospital.

Now, with full Health Canada clearance, it will provide another tool for physicians.

“It allows us to roll it out across Canada, sort of barrier-free, and bring this technology to more patients,” said Cooper. “It’s the only angioscope that’s rated for the neurovasculature.”

With the MicroAngioscope now available for sale and clinical use in Canada, it shows that a little camera can go a long way for the most complex medical procedures.