Grads now helping stroke victims with surgical device

Wednesday, August 17, 2022

A medical technology company launched by two Waterloo Engineering graduates is making news this week with the announcement that a device it developed has been successfully used to treat stroke victims.

Vena Medical, which grew out of a Capstone Design project by Michael Phillips and Phillip Cooper when they were classmates in the mechanical engineering program, earned Health Canada approval earlier this year for hardware it calls the Vena Balloon Distal Access Catheter (BDAC).

Now the device has been used by surgeons at hospitals in London and Ottawa to remove blood clots and restore blood flow as quickly as possible for five patients.

“We’re proud to have the first patients to benefit from our Canadian-developed technology within driving distance of our office, in the hands of world-class physicians,” said Phillips, CEO of the Kitchener-based company, in a media release.

Go to When every second counts for the full story.