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Decades of public sector investment in Ontario academic centres of excellence have nurtured and fostered tremendous advances in medical imaging research and therapies in oncology, neurology, orthopedics and urology. We are poised to take advantage of this investment by creating intellectual property and patents, then commercializing our inventions with our partner companies. This will create knowledge training positions and jobs in Ontario, leading to economic growth.
Globally, academic laboratories are leaders in image visualization and guidance techniques. Coupling this expertise with minimal access therapy and surgery techniques has the potential to revolutionize healthcare. The Robarts Research Institute, Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Center, Queen's University and the University Health Network are at the forefront in the use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging to guide minimally invasive brain surgery. Microwave thermal therapy for prostate cancer is a world first being developed at UHN. Cancer centers in Toronto, London and Kingston are leading the development of new radiation sources for radiation therapy, and the use of quantitative 3D imaging technology to customize high-dose radiation treatments of cancer. These accomplishments and new opportunities, such as the integration of functional imaging into image-guided therapy and surgery, represent a compelling commercial opportunity for Ontario.
The Ontario academic and research institutions at the forefront of developing these new technologies have created a growing Ontario industrial base uniquely positioned to capitalize on the resulting commercial opportunities. This includes the formation of numerous start-up companies (CADMIT, CPCI, ATAMAI, SonoMetrics) and other growing Ontario companies (Sandstrom, Modus Medical Devices Inc., Northern Digital, Cedara Software Corporation, MDS-Nordion).
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