Post by Bert-Arjan Millenaar

𝗪𝗲’𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 I visited Kaminari Medical last month, a NLC Health Ventures portfolio company. I saw something that questions my understanding of cardiology. We treat heart disease as if we can see the threat. But the plaques most likely to rupture (the ones that kill) stay invisible on the scans we rely on every day. We’ve built an entire system on partial visibility. We treat blockages because that’s what we can see. But the soft, fatty plaques that sit quietly in the artery wall? They look harmless. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗿𝘂𝗽𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲. 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 “𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲” 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗮𝗰𝗸. Kaminari is changing that. Their tech listens to the echo of light hitting the artery wall. It shows where the plaque is and reveals what it’s made of. For the first time, doctors can see the quiet killers, not just the usual suspects that light up a scan 𝗪𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗮 𝗹𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗼𝗻 𝗮 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻. But if the most dangerous part of the disease stays hidden, are we really in control? Or are we just responding to whatever happens next with a false sense of certainty? Henk Westendorp Alessandro Radaelli. Gijs van Soest. Jeroen Kodde. Ton Van Der Steen. Verya Daeichin. Antonio López Marín. Jonas Riksen.