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THINK Surgical announced a collaborative project with Concordia University to develop advanced image registration algorithms using machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI). The results of the collaboration may be incorporated into THINK Surgical’s next-generation robotic solutions for orthopedic surgery.
The project is funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada and MEDTEQ+. NSERC is the Canadian government’s national funding agency. MEDTEQ+ is the pan-Canadian industry-led consortium for research and innovation in medical technologies. The total direct funding for the research is more than $250,000 over three years.
Hassan Rivaz, Ph.D., the project’s primary investigator, directs the IMage Processing and Characterization of Tissue (IMPACT) laboratory at Concordia University and is also an Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging.
“This grant will support ground-breaking research intended to improve the performance of existing and new clinical systems, thereby benefiting patients through improved clinical outcomes,” Dr. Rivaz said. “THINK Surgical’s open-platform is an excellent option for AI-powered applications.”
THINK Surgical’s Software Innovation Lab was established in 2015 to lead the software development for its next-generation robotics solutions. The research conducted at Concordia University’s IMPACT laboratory focuses on the development of novel image analysis techniques to improve healthcare and the development of novel techniques for ultrasound imaging, image-guided interventions and image registration.
“We collaborated with Prof. Rivaz on a previous NSERC Alliance project with extremely positive results,” said Sunil Rottoo, Director of Advanced Development at THINK Surgical’s Software Innovation Lab in Montreal. “This new, three-year grant will allow us to deepen our expertise in AI while exploring new areas, including image registration.”
