Cameron Health
| Privately held | |
| Industry | Medical technology |
| Fate | Acquired |
| Successor | Boston Scientific |
| Founded | 2000 |
| Founder | Gust Bardy, MD & Riccardo Cappato, MD |
| Defunct | June 8, 2012 |
| Headquarters | San Clemente, California, USA |
|
Key people
|
Kevin Hykes, President and CEO |
| Products | Subcutaneous Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator |
| Website | www.cameronhealth.com |
Cameron Health was a medical device developer based in San Clemente, California, USA. Cameron Health had its European office, Cameron Health BV, in Arnhem, The Netherlands. The privately held company's focus was on a new generation of minimally invasive implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) which they called a Subcutaneous Implantable Defibrillator (S-ICD). Cameron Health's approach avoided implanting transvenous leads into the heart, which had been the usual procedure for cardiac devices. Instead, the Cameron ICD was entirely implanted outside the thoracic wall.
In June 2012, Boston Scientific officially acquired Cameron Health for a total sum of $1.3 Billion, paid out incrementally as various revenue milestones were achieved. As of February 2016[update], Boston Scientific still markets the S-ICD system.
Every ICD is designed to detect heart rhythms consistent with a catastrophic failure of the body's natural regulation of the heartbeat, which, untreated, could result in death. When an ICD detects a serious arrhythmia, it issues an electrical impulse to the heart muscle, of a magnitude sufficient to cause the heart to revert to a normal rhythm. ICDs with transvenous leads administer this shock to the interior of the heart muscle; the Cameron Health device generated a more powerful shock which can be effective from outside the heart. In the view of Cameron Health, transvenous leads into the heart needlessly complicated the process of implanting a device, and raised other issues and risks which their less invasive approach avoids.
The Cameron Health subcutaneous ICD sat outside the ribcage and has no connection to the interior of the heart. The surgical procedure for implantation was minimally invasive as opposed to the traditional procedure of threading leads into the subclavian venous system, through the superior vena cava and into one or more endocardial areas of the heart, a procedure often requiring a cardiologist with specialized training in electrophysiology. In addition to the risks inherent in cardiac surgery, the leads have themselves proved to be a weakness in some ICD designs. According to one estimate, patients with ICDs have a 20 percent chance of lead failure within 10 years, and replacing the leads carries a risk of death of between two and five percent. Some device manufacturers have had to replace defective leads which exposed implanted individuals to unnecessary shocks or other malfunctions, in some cases possibly resulting in fatalities.
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Wikipedia