Proof positive that you needn’t be a doctor, engineer or businessperson to make it in the world of medical devices, the Baylis Medical Company got its start in 1986 when registered nurse Gloria Baylis started importing and distributing medical devices for neurologists. Two decades later, Baylis’s own products are distributed in about 60 countries. Their line of products includes devices for interventional cardiology and interventional radiology as well as pain management.

While they still distribute for other manufacturers in Canada—predominantly American high-technology products in the areas of cardiology, interventional cardiology and interventional radiology—Baylis consciously decided to branch out into manufacturing, as it offers more business stability, higher profit margins and greater control over the business.

Baylis entered medical device manufacturing by starting out small, carving out a niche by virtually cornering the market on a treatment for newborns with congenital heart defects, their Radio Frequency Puncture system. As there was a relatively small market for this device, they faced little-to-no competition from larger manufacturers—which seemed not to know or not to care about the device—allowing Baylis to grow their infrastructure.

Radio Frequency Pain Management Generator (PMG) system.

Baylis’s current mainstay is the Radio Frequency Pain Management Generator (PMG) system, says Frank Baylis, the company’s president. This device uses RF energy to detect and then ablate nerves causing chronic pain. Doctors can control the system in the manual mode, or allow the system to apply the ablation automatically using the automatic mode. The PMG unit competes with similar products from internationals such as Smith & Nephew plc, Stryker Corporation and Tyco Healthcare Group.

Two firsts for the Canadian company were add-ons to the PMG: their TransDiscal system, for ablating pain-transmitting neurons (nociceptors) from spinal discs in a procedure called biacuplasty; and the SInergy system, for managing pain associated with sacroiliac joint syndrome in a similar way. Previously, no ablation treatments were available for axial discogenic pain or pain arising from idiopathic SI joint syndrome. Both systems offer comparatively non-invasive alternatives to surgery. Clinical trials have reported both increased function and decreased pain after disc biacuplasty and SI joint denervation.

Headquartered in Montreal and with a manufacturing and engineering facility in southern Ontario, Baylis operates an ISO 13485:2003–compliant facility. They employ about 110 people in Canada, with a small British office to support their European and Asian distributors.

Images courtesy of Baylis Medical Inc.