Translation of lab ideas into commercial products is a challenging process that requires smart thinking, time, and money. Our lab has made the leap from the lab bench to instruments that advance biomedical research and clinical practice by developing start-up companies or collaborating with early-stage med-tech via the development of several start-up companies such as those that are described here. Each of these Each start-up is driven by an unmet preclinical or clinical need. We are also able to collaborate with companies to fabricate and test prototypes of medical ultrasound technologies through SRI’s Device Development Lab.
This company was founded By Dr. Stuart Foster to meet the need for effective preclinical and clinical micro-ultrasound. This is the oldest and most successful of our commercialization enterprises. It was acquired by Fujifilm in 2012. VisualSonics scanners allow scientists conduct leading edge biomedical research and allow clinicians to observe superficial tissues with unprecedented clarity. We also introduced the world’s first commercialized photoacoustic imaging systems. VisualSonics is the gold standard for high frequency ultrasound.
More than 2500 systems have been installed at leading universities, hospitals, and drug companies resulting in more than 5,000 publications to date. Former research group members Andrew Needles, Ross Williams, and Melissa Yin serve in executive and senior engineering positions at VisualSonics.
Accurate assessment of fluid responsiveness is a serious unmet clinical need in the emergency departments and the intensive care units of today’s hospitals. We worked with Flosonics Medical Inc. to develop wearable ultrasound Doppler technology to address this need. The wireless, Doppler ultra-sound patch system is placed on a patient’s neck and provides a simple, fast, and consistent method for measuring changes in heart function. Flosonics and our group received the 2019 Ontario Centers of Innovation Mind-to-Market award for our collaboration on this technology.
This company is at a comparatively early stage of development but already has FDA approval to market its initial product. The product is an inexpensive Bluetooth enabled wearable cardiovascular monitor that allows clinicians to assess fluid responsiveness in critically ill patients. Because the Doppler system is directly attached to the patient there is much less variability in the data compared to other ultrasound approaches. The company is conducting clinical trials to build the evidence needed to contribute to management of critically ill patients. Recently, El Camino Health (Mountain View California) became the first health system in the world to adopt FloPatch as a standard in critical care. Former Medical Biophysics/Sunnybrook student and research group member Chelsea Munding serves a Senior Engineer at Flosonics.
Exact Imaging was founded to streamline prostate cancer detection, biopsy, and management in a cost and time effective fashion, building on the same micro-ultrasound imaging principles our lab is investigating. This FDA and CE approved scanner is now entering the North American and European markets. There are currently about 175 installations of Exact-Vu at leading urology clinics around the world. Dozens of Clinical Trials are ongoing and, in particular a large multi-centre international randomized controlled trial called OPTIMUM is running to establish level 1 clinical evidence. We are investigating additional applications of the ExactVu technology, such as photoacoustic imaging.
Dr. Foster and the team worked in collaboration with Dr. Brian Courtney to develop novel catheter based imaging to streamline and improve techniques for coronary imaging. Conavi Medical Inc. has introduced the world's first FDA approved combined OCT-IVUS catheter. Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) and intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) currently share the approximately $600M coronary imaging market but this is the first commercial device to combine both modalities in the same catheter. This eliminates the potential need for 2 separate catheters in the same procedure. The first commercial sales of the scanner have been completed and the clinical trials underway will determine the success of the product. The company is now listed on the TSX stock exchange. Former lab member Dr. Ahman Thind serves as the company’s Chief Technology Officer.
Quantitative imaging is a major unmet need in wound management. We collaborated with Dr. Ralph DaCosta as he developed new optical tools for wound assessment and founded MolecuLight. The company created the first handheld all optical fluorescence imaging solution for quantification of bacterial load in wound healing, surgery, food safety, and many other applications. For the first time, wound status is quantitative and wound sufferers are recovering faster and with less expense than previously possible. It is also FDA and CE approved and is currently being marketed in the USA and Europe.
MolecuLight’s clinical evidence has been so compelling that it has already received classification codes for insurance reimbursement in the United States. In addition, SBI ALApharma Canada is actively developing the MolecuLight fluorescence imaging technology for breast cancer surgery. Former Medical Biophysics/Sunnybrook student Liis Teene serves as Senior Director, Clinical Affairs of this company.
