TORONTO, ON, January 10th, 2022 – INOVAIT is thrilled to announce that 28 healthcare technology companies and institutions will receive funding from the pan-Canadian network supported by the Government of Canada’s Strategic Innovation Fund. This first round of funding will inject over $2.1M into Canada’s image-guided therapy industry.
Launched in August 2020, INOVAIT’s objective is to build a truly integrated image-guided therapy ecosystem, fuelling continuous innovation that revolutionizes healthcare globally. Through connecting, educating, and investing in the most promising ventures, INOVAIT supports and encourages collaborative development and the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into medical technologies.
INOVAIT’s funding is specifically designed to encourage the commercial translation of research and development, accelerate commercialization of products, facilitate the growth and expansion of firms, and advance industrial research and technology demonstration activities through collaboration.
This initial round of funding marks the inauguration of a series of collaborative investments and partnerships to leverage Canadian expertise in image-guided therapy and artificial intelligence to build a legacy industry that will create high tech healthcare jobs, strengthen the economy, and create better health outcomes, bringing Canada to the forefront of global health technology clusters in IGT.
Since the first call for pilot applications on October 8, 2020, INOVAIT evaluated applications from across Canada and selected the strongest applications with the highest commercialization potential, and economic impact. The first round of funding supports members like Luxsonic Technologies Inc. and Perimeter Medical Imaging AI, Inc.
Luxsonic Technologies Inc. – Saskatchewan
In partnership with physicians from the Saskatchewan Health Authority, and machine learning (ML) researchers at the University of Saskatchewan, Luxsonic will develop a ML pipeline within their SieVRt, virtual reality (VR) radiology software. This integrated pipeline will allow researchers to more quickly train new ML models. Physicians will then put them to use, improving image-guided procedures and therapeutic interventions. This unique combination of artificial intelligence (AI), VR, and image guided therapy (IGT) is expected to lead to dramatic improvements in patient care.
Perimeter Medical Imaging AI, Inc. – Ontario
Breast cancer became the most common cancer globally as of 2021, accounting for 12% of all new annual cancer cases worldwide. Image-guided biopsy is often used to help with difficult breast cancer diagnoses. Based on the same technology as the commercially available Perimeter S-Series OCT platform, Perimeter Medical is developing a device that could help produce accurate, real-time sampling during an image-guided biopsy. In partnership with Mount Sinai Health System Toronto, this INOVAIT funded project is aimed at demonstrating how Perimeter’s OCT combined with artificial intelligence (AI) technology may potentially improve cancer detection, provide better patient care, and represent a game-changer in breast cancer diagnosis.
INOVAIT’s pilot funding provides support of up to $125,000 in matching funds for short, high value projects. In future years, INOVAIT plans to offer funding for longer-term commercialization-oriented projects. Funding supports industrial research, including activities related to the discovery of new knowledge that aim to support the development of new technology-driven products or services, including the advancement and development of new technologies into product-specific applications.
“This competition is a good example of the Canadian talent and vision we are working to foster. INOVAIT’s Image-Guided Therapy and Artificial Intelligence competition is deepening our collaboration with entrepreneurs and sparking new innovative solutions in areas that will bring real and concrete benefits to Canadians from coast to coast to coast.” – The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry
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