The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

ro-wammocumum-mdmmyt November 2|. 2012 I ' I O O C I Avemr creating new technolo 3 to assrst doctors m the operating room A BYBOIVIMNM‘. traditional implant alignment methods , ._, , 1712?!” Sal/L; a- ,4 being used today. > ~. Bakirtzian said while the recognition was he idea for building a surgical tool to ,. nice. it also tells them they’re on the right I assist orthopedic surgeons with difii~ track in building better connections cult hip replacement surgery was . between medicine and digital technology ; planted in the mind of Avenir Medical inc. and is getting them noticed by investors and ‘ (:I{() and co~founder Armen Bakirtzian others supporting their business. when he was just eight years old. “We've really taken that to heart by bring- 'l‘he son of an orthopedic surgeon. ing orthopedic surgeons into the design Bakirujan saw his first surgery when he was “ 7in room and have them tell us what they like at that tender age. The process and medical . ‘21:} ' Q" and what they don't like,” said Bakirtzian. “At training that went into it practicing mediv _ the end ofthe day we're building a device for cine fascinated him. however he ultimately » __‘ ‘7‘!"- ? ' them so why not design something that they ended up studying mechatronics engineer~ c E L My: 5 ' will actually use.” ing at the University of Waterloo. C‘ L' . , 3.45.175 ., . 3"; " ' He said the biggest problem with some of But when he was looking for an idea for . T , ‘ «.3? ‘ "' '" ' ’3 the computer-assisted surgical devices that his fourth-year engineering project with ' ' t :14: g » ’ ‘>§§>L.IE;‘:VM‘V currently exist is that they are too difficult - classmates Andre illadio and Richard ran “a Agassi; wt r“ and too cumbersome for doctors to use son. his experience in the operating room ‘W 3“ .lfljfiu *3; “The right technology wasn't built for seemed likea natural place to start. 1 ~ 73 WE: :41 we" “33% i.“j...;..n 5. them.” said Bakirtzian. “if it's something ~we had to do a project that was bio- gigtgfiwgggo ,1 new» whijfimé‘gfi‘wfi they can't pick up in five minutes they’ll firmed, 50 | we.“ to watch a surgery,” said new ‘35.; £15; WS‘ :52...“ abandon it. They don't have time to waste to Bakinzian. "l was always interested in medi- ‘wtjfikwyfihfiw ' ‘7. {if} learn new technology if it really wasn't cine since i watched my first surgery. and :tlfrgi'y‘fgfir {ramming i“. " ”5‘3"; ' " “ : designed for them. I've always had that in my mind that it was f;;_f.fi‘:":.;zygiigffgf; 3‘ “We took a little different approach and something that l'd like to do .4 "' " ‘43 .~ ’3‘ ' 3 ' designed something specific to their needs." 'The thing that made me happiest was to “ With an aging population, he said more combine my two interests in engineering 3 W , . than one million hip replacement surgeries and medicine. and this is where we landed.” are performed a year in North America and So he joined his dad Dr. Bedms Bakinz Europe. The need for a more precise digital ian in the operating room for one of the tool will only grow. more challenging procedures he performs . “That's supposed to double in the next 20 â€"â€" a hip replacement. - to 30 years." said Bakirtzian. ”The market is “He turned around to me and said. Armen Bakirtzian and his partners in Avenir Medical inc, based out ofWaterloo'S Accelerator there and right now we're focused on hip ‘When l do these. i do them by eye and Centre, were recently honoured at the 2012 Canadian Youth Business Foundation Chairman's surgery. but that's not all we could do. we sometimes i make mistakes. so is there any- Awards for Best Business. noon-m more can also help out with other joint surgeries thing you guys can do to help us?” said "We're not limited to joint replacement. Bakinzian “That's really how it started and it won the 2010 Next Young Entrepreneur orthopedic surgeons who would listen to us we want to help do it all right. We just want- WaS a 8138! inspiration.“ s award and it led them found Avenir Medical. and we validated our idea,” said Bakirm'an. ed to tackle the hardest joint first." Their idea to build a medical tool that based out of Waterloo's Accelerator Centre. “It was a technology that they liked and it The finished product will probably be on measures the precise position and orientaâ€" “That really gave us access to orthopedic was something that they saw themselves the market sometime in the next 12 to 24 tion of hip implants and provides a digital surgeons in the area and develop other con- using. so we took the plunge as they say. and months. and Bakinzian and his partners are . readout for surgeons to take some of the triers.” said Bakinzian. “The one thing we went full-time at it and we've been going excited to get back in the operating room guess work out of the procedure was so good heard early on was if you're going to fail. fail full-time at it for two years now." again. that they immediately patented it upon as quicklyas possible and move on to some- It has also lead to further recognition for “i think the excitement factor for us is graduation in 2008. thing else.’ Avenir Medical inc. The startup was recently being in the operating room when our sys- ‘We decided to stick with it even though But with all the input and feedback named the best innovative business at the tern is being used for the first time on a live we did make it a full-time job right away and they‘ve received from the medical establish- 2012 Canadian Youth Business Foundation patient.” he said. continued our education," said Bakirm'an ment about their product. called the PelvAs- Oiairman's Awards for Best Business ”it's been our goal to create something The trio furthered their training by going slst. it has turned out to be a winner. Bakirtzlan. and his partners Fanson and that helps a surgeon deliver a superior quali- on to mush their Masters in related fields â€" It will improve patient outcomes while Hladio. were on hand to receive the award in ty of care to their patients and makes the like biomedical engineering. medical robot. offering surgeons and inspital a oost-effec- Toronto last week during Global Entrepre- patients life better.” ics and electrical engineering â€"~ and came live way to improve traditional hip replace- neurshipWeek. and the digital guidance tool For more infomiation on Avenir Medical together again to enter the Ontario Centres merit technology. for hip replacement they were developing lnc. visit the company's website at of aeolian Discovery Competition. They “We took our idea out to a bunch of was lauded for its potential to transform the www.avenim1edlml.com. V V V V . Christmas Home. Only On lit-Stock PM”: Salomon. 1/12 UllRWAY ' L U M 8 E R A. . ”M W 5' ~~ 5' 1...... “on. m 7.00. 5=°°P~"" 5‘" “0 "W" 54 YEARS m BUSINESS E ' «f: l; Vii 5 Q o 4 2:201:1'010170 A 3 0° SUNDAYS are out many DAV _' ___I ‘ g ’”" "' ". " lo or oo»~‘ -- t.. .- .2. :[ (Us t...5.wmq m U "' I «W:- at -. i“