Cameron Health was founded in 2000 in San Clemente, CA to develop a leadless implantable defibrillator.
The device does not require a lead to be implanted into the heart. Instead, the device has a lead that is tunneled beneath the skin from the upper left chest below the level of the clavicle to the level of about the breast, then tunneled laterally to the side of the chest beneath the arm. The device uses the subcutaneous lead to sense the heart rhythm and can detect rapid arrhythmias from the surface ECG created between the lead electrode and the can of the device. Its maximum shocking output is 80 joules.
According to Cameron Healt, the advantage of the system is that it does not require x-ray exposure, an it takes about 15 minutes for an experienced physician to implant the device. On the down side, quite a bit of lead tunneling is needed, and more importantly, the system cannot provide post-shock bradycardia pacing support in case that it is needed.
In June 2009 Cameron Health announced that it had received the CE Mark. In December 2011 it announced that the 1000th patient had been implanted.
Company website: www.cameronhealth.com