The digital revolution of health with Intellijoint’s Armen Bakirtzian

CIBC Innovation Banking Podcast

Armen Bakirtzian is co-founder and CEO of Intellijoint Surgical, a company striving to improve orthopedic patient care through technology. He is an engineer, and the son of an orthopedic surgeon which he says armed him with the knowledge of the need in this industry that led him to launch and grow Intellijoint. On this episode, we learn the origin story of this cutting edge med tech company and how they are working with the medical community to make consistent improvements to patient quality of care. Armen explores what makes Intellijoint different from their competitors, the importance of early adopters of tech in the medical industry, and the future of the “surgery as a service” approach in health care.

The medical industry is a tough nut to crack

The healthcare industry is inherently traditional and can sometimes seem averse to progression. There are also substantial legal, regulatory and financial considerations that come into play when we’re looking at developing new tech products and modern solutions. This is why champions and early adopters of this tech are so key in advancing it in the market, and why creative business models have helped Intellijoint progress.

The best tech ideas are borne from a need

Armen is the son of an orthopedic surgeon and ultimately developed Intellijoint based on his understanding of a key need. Surgeons traditionally rely very heavily on their training and don’t use digital to their advantage in surgery which can sometimes lead to human error. Intellijoint is working to close this gap and provide the best patient care possible by minimizing the risk of mistake.

Advocacy and mentorship are key

When Intellijoint was in its infancy, Armen was fortunate enough to be introduced to valuable mentors in the USA who had developed medical products, and he credits them with helping Intellijoint find success. Armen is now using this knowledge and his experience to mentor like-minded Canadian companies as he knows that the medical device industry is small and the benefits to patients, our local economy, and to our country for commercializing a medical technology company at home are tremendous.

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This episode of The CIBC Innovation Banking Podcast was produced by Quill.