INOVAIT announces 6 new funding recipients

TORONTO – INOVAIT, the pan-Canadian innovation network supporting advancements and commercialization in image-guided therapy (IGT) and artificial intelligence (AI), is excited to announce the latest recipients of its Pilot Fund. INOVAIT has committed just under $730,000 to support six new projects involving collaborations between small- and medium-sized enterprises, hospital research centres, and academic institutions, creating jobs and launching healthcare innovation across the country.

The combined value of the six projects is over $2.2 million, contributed by all participating companies, organizations, and partners. INOVAIT is proud to offer this non-dilutive financial support to Canada’s most innovative technologies in IGT. Funding was provided coast to coast to projects that demonstrated the highest commercialization potential and economic impact, including projects in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland.

Kullervo Hynynen (pictured), co-executive director of INOVAIT, proudly stated, “INOVAIT’s financial support promotes the practical application of research and development efforts, speeds up market readiness of innovations, generates high-impact jobs for Canadians and fuels the sector overall.”

He added, “To date, INOVAIT has selected 88 IGT-AI projects for funding, leading to an expected infusion of $128 million into the burgeoning Canadian image-guided therapy sector.”

Below is a list of the lead recipients for each of the 6 projects and a brief overview:

Lead Recipient: JVP Labs
Project Partners: NL Health Services
Project Title: Jugular Venous Pressure assessment in Patients with Congestive Heart Failure
Project Description: The global prevalence of congestive heart failure (CHF) has reached epidemic proportions and continues to rapidly expand at an alarming rate. Assessment of pressure build-up within the heart is critical to optimal management of CHF and preventing patients from experiencing severe shortness of breath and hospitalization. JVPLabs is leveraging artificial intelligence with computer vision to develop a non-invasive medical device capable of accurate and reproducible assessment of the jugular venous pressure (JVP) – a challenging and unsolved clinical problem for patients living with CHF.

Lead Recipient: Okare AI
Project Partners: University Health Network, Sterling Periodontics
Project Title: Predicting risk of periodontal disease from dental imaging for prevention
Project Description: Oral diseases cost Canada $13 billion every year and affect almost every adult worldwide. Periodontal disease is the most common oral disease in Canada and is the leading cause of tooth loss. The key to addressing this global crisis is early detection and treatment. Imaging such as radiographs and oral photographs play a key role in dental care but are underutilized, limiting their use to diagnosis. In this study we aim to investigate how imaging can be used to anticipate the risk of periodontal disease thereby avoiding costly treatments.

Lead Recipient: Ascinta Technologies Inc.
Project Partners: University of British Columbia
Project Title: Automation of Image-Guided Radiation Dosimetry for Personalization of Radiopharmaceutical Therapies (RPTs) using Artificial Intelligence
Project Description: RPTs are an exciting frontier to treat metastatic prostate cancer (PCa) & other cancers. We will take advantage of the theranostics paradigm to revolutionize IGTs starting with treatment of PCa using Lu-177; a radionuclide that allows us to both image (with SPECT) & treat PCa simultaneously. Thus we can not only see what we treat, but measure how much radiation is deposited in tumors & healthy tissue (dosimetry). Currently, imaging is not being used to optimize RPTs. Our proposal seeks to change this by enabling routine clinical implementation of dosimetry via AI-enabled automated workflows.

Lead Recipient: CliniSonix Inc.
Project Partners: University of Alberta
Project Title: 3D High-Resolution Electrostrictive Row-Column Arrays and AI for Vulnerable Plaque Discrimination to Guide Therapeutic Interventions
Project Description: Current imaging technology, including ultrasound imaging has struggled to achieve vulnerable plaque discrimination. This is in part due to the challenge in quantifying small volumes when the carotid artery is moving, coupled with the lack of high-resolution 3D ultrasound technologies. The goal of the current project is to achieve high-resolution 3D imaging and AI-enabled plaque volume estimation to enable identification of plaques that increase in volume by more than 10% over time.

Lead Recipient: University of Ottawa Heart Institute
Project Partners: Tomoverse Imaging Inc., Royal Victoria Hospital (McGill University Health Centre)
Project Title: Automating periprocedural CT analysis for structural heart interventions using artificial intelligence
Project Description: Our collaborative project with the University of Ottawa Heart Institute (UOHI), McGill University Health Centre (MUHC), and Tomoverse Imaging focuses on enhancing CT image-guided therapies for structural heart disease. The UOHI is developing AI algorithms that automate pre-procedural cardiac CT analysis. Tomoverse aims to integrate these advanced AI models into their existing software platform with a plan for commercialization. The clinical benefits include improving accuracy of device selection and sizing, reducing processing time, and streamlining workflows for pre-procedural planning.

Lead Recipient: Sound Blade Medical
Project Partners: Dalhousie University
Project Title: Image-Guided Histotripsy for Effective Debulking of the Tongue Base and Treatment of Benign Thyroid Nodules
Project Description: The project aims to enhance non-invasive, image-guided ultrasound ablation (histotripsy) as an alternative to tongue-base reduction surgery for obstructive sleep apnea caused by fatty tissue accumulation. Current surgical methods, performed blind, often lead to complications like bleeding, infection, speech impairment, and tongue paralysis. Our intra-oral image-guided ablation prototype will precisely and non-invasively liquify fatty tongue tissue, thereby mitigating complications associated with standard sleep apnea treatment.

“Our government understands the amazing potential of image-guided therapy and AI to revolutionize how Canadians receive medical care,” said The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry. “That is why we are excited to partner with INOVAIT to help support stakeholders working across this exciting new technological landscape and ensure that Canada remains at the forefront of cutting-edge medical innovations.”

For a complete list of companies funded to date through INOVAIT, visit www.inovait.ca/funding. For any inquiries regarding INOVAIT or its programming, please reach out to inovait@sunnybrook.ca.

About INOVAIT
Established in 2020, INOVAIT invests strategically in collaborative partnerships that build upon Canada’s strength in digital innovation and health science research to create a critical mass of world-leading image-guided therapy (IGT) companies focused on artificial intelligence, machine learning, and big data analytics. Led by the Sunnybrook Research Institute and supported by the Government of Canada’s Strategic Innovation Fund, the network brings together small, medium-sized, and large companies, research organizations, post-secondary institutions, and not-for-profit organizations to collaborate, connect, and work together. The network’s mission is to build a truly integrated IGT-AI ecosystem by fuelling continuous innovation, commercialization, and collaboration that revolutionizes healthcare globally.

About Sunnybrook Research Institute
Sunnybrook Research Institute (SRI) is the research arm of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, an internationally recognized academic health sciences centre fully affiliated with the University of Toronto. With well-established programs in basic and applied sciences which span across three scientific platforms and ten clinical programs, SRI is developing innovations in care for the more than 1.3 million patient visits the hospital sees annually. Recognized as a Centre of Excellence in focused ultrasound, SRI has one of the most comprehensive and successful focused ultrasound research programs in the world, with technical, scientific, and clinical experts accelerating progress in the field.