A Medical Device Daily

Kenneth Kensey, prolific inventor, successful entrepreneur and progressive physician, died July 3rd at Reading Hospital in West Reading, Pennsylvania of brain hemorrhage. Kensey, co-founder of Kensey Nash (Exton, Pennsylvania), is the inventor or co-inventor in more than 130 patent filings with more than 50 patents issued. He was 58.

The inventor of the Angio-Seal artery plug and the Rheolog blood viscometer, Kensey made significant contributions to minimally invasive surgery and was recognized as a pioneer for his theories on the cause of heart disease.

With John Nash, Kensey founded Kensey Nash in 1984, where he was responsible for creating numerous new medical technologies including the Angio-Seal, a femoral artery puncture closure device, as well as the Kensey Catheter for Dynamic Angioplasty.

During his tenure as CEO of Kensey Nash, Kensey was instrumental in facilitating joint ventures with Baxter Health Care, Johnson & Johnson, American Home Products, Cordis, and Tyco Medical.

In 1998, Kensey left Kensey Nash to form Rheologics (formerly, Visco Technologies), where he developed the first in-vivo blood viscometer for use at the bedside in the diagnosis and treatment of atherosclerosis. He served as CEO of Rheologics until 2005 and chairman until 2009.

Kensey was the author of 17 journal articles, including contributions to the Journal of Invasive Cardiology and the Review of Scientific Instruments. He co-wrote The Origin of Atherosclerosis: What Really Initiates the Inflammatory Process, and The Blood Thinner Cure: A Revolutionary Seven-Step Lifestyle Plan for Stopping Heart Disease and Stroke. He was an invited lecturer at Harvard Medical School, the American College of Cardiology, Stanford University, the Mayo Clinic, UCLA, and the Arizona Heart Institute.