Ontario’s healthcare system is facing a crisis, one that strikes at the very heart of patient care. Despite the promise of advanced medical technology, such as AI diagnostics or precision medicine, wait times for procedures remain alarmingly high. In January 2025, hip replacement patients in Ontario waited an average of 62 days. This is more than double the recommended 30-day window. For knee replacements, the wait time ballooned to 122 days. These delays raise an urgent question: Can innovation meaningfully improve access and outcomes in a system under strain?
In this episode of Where Next Happens, Dr. Claudia Krywiak speaks with Armen Bakirtzian, co-founder and CEO of Intellijoint Surgical. With a personal connection to orthopedic surgery and a passion for solving real-world problems, Armen has spent over a decade building medtech solutions designed to improve surgical precision and patient care. His company, which started as a student project, is now an award-winning medical device firm pushing for systemic change in how Canada supports healthcare innovation.
This conversation reveals the reality behind scaling medical devices in Ontario’s public system. Walk away understanding why good technology alone isn’t enough. Learn how reimbursement codes can make or break adoption. Finally, hear how one Canadian entrepreneur is working to align innovation with impact at home and abroad.
About Armen Bakirtzian
Armen Bakirtzian is a medtech entrepreneur and the co-founder and CEO of Intellijoint Surgical. It’s a Canadian company improving the accuracy of joint replacement surgeries. Born into a family of healthcare professionals, Armen grew up around orthopedic surgery. He studied engineering at the University of Waterloo, where he helped turn a capstone project into a global health innovation. Intellijoint’s first product, Intellijoint HIP, has now supported thousands of surgeries around the world, giving surgeons better data and patients better outcomes.
Armen’s work sits at the intersection of engineering, healthcare, and public policy. He’s an advocate for strengthening Canada’s medical technology ecosystem and founded the Medical Innovation Exchange (MIX) to help other startups grow at home. With a mission to make advanced surgical tools more accessible, Armen is pushing for change in how innovation is funded, adopted, and scaled in Canada. His leadership reflects a deep belief: that life-changing health solutions should be built and used here.
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