Article

Friday July 5, 2002

Firm eyes EU operation
Regulators OK hi-tech medical gear
By Sean McKibbon, Ottawa Sun


LEE VALLEY Tools spinoff Canica Design has won approval to sell a line of hi-tech surgery tools in the European Union Common Market and the U.S.

The recent FDA and EU approvals mean the nine-person firm can begin a sales effort to crack a multi-billion dollar marker for everything from scalpels with disposable blades to adhesive wound closures that seal gaping holes in flesh.

"Doctors have been ill-served by the medical equipment industry," said Canica president Leonard Lee. Lee was inspired to start the spinoff when local plastic surgeon Michael Bell told him he was using a Lee Valley carving knife in his practice. "We're talking with two of the largest U.S. manufacturers about licensing these products," said Lee. Although the startup is not yet profitable, Lee said his firm's ability to sell in all major global markets could eventually catapult Canica ahead of his home and garden tool business.

While many complicated new devices have been created for medicine by modern technology, simpler instruments such as sutures, scalpels and clamps haven't changed much in the last 100 years, Lee said. Meanwhile, a boom in home renovation has led to advances in hand tools. "This is the first major change in the scalpel since 1915," he said.

Lee recruited Bell as a technical advisor and, in the last four years, Bell and Canica's director of research Michael O'Malley created a series of devices using hi-tech magnets, adhesive gels and silicone. One such device, called the Canica Hand Surgery System, uses incredibly strong magnets developed during the U.S. Manhattan project to quickly immobilize patient's hands for carpal tunnel surgery. Another uses elasticized bands and sticky pads to close huge wounds. Injuries that used to be fatal or take years to heal can be closed in weeks now, he said. "This technology saves a lot of money and it saves lives."


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