India-Canada joint venture in medical electronics to ensure affordable healthcare

New Delhi: Unique Broadband Systems Ltd, UBS, of Toronto, Ontario, Canada and Kaynes Technology of Mysore, India, was awarded funding by the Global Innovation and Technology Alliance, GITA, of India and Global Affairs Canada, for the co-development and co-marketing of high power RF amplifiers for low field magnetic resonance imaging, MRI , applications.

The project falls under the Program category of Affordable Healthcare, Electronic System Design, and Manufacturing (ESDM).

Working together, the Governments of Canada and India aim to foster and support collaborative industrial R&D projects with high potential for commercialization. The Canadian International Innovation Program (CIIP) is delivered in partnership with the National Research Council of Canada's Industrial Research Assistance Program in India.

Regarding this project, UBS will design the high power RF circuitry and signal processing electronics, while Kaynes will provide the packaging and manufacturing expertise required for the creation of high performance, high-reliability amplifiers, which will be used in both new and legacy MRI scanner installations. The project is expected to commence in November 2017 and be completed by early to mid-2019.

"Global Affairs Canada is proud to deliver on the Canadian International Innovation Program. In this case, this remarkable initiative makes it easier for Canadian SMEs to enter the market and narrows the distance between medical expertise and equipment for the people who need it most, particularly those in rural or remote regions. Together, we are making a stronger, more innovative economy," said François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of International Trade, Canada.

"This joint venture will introduce a breakthrough technology in RF-based power amplification of MRI or any image processing devices. It enables portability, less heat dissipation, and easier cooling through normal air coolers for MRI scanners. This, in turn, will make MRI scanning machines more affordable and will also be suitable for rural applications," added Col Sharath Bhat, Senior Vice President, Kaynes Technology.

Low field MRI scanners will be helpful in terms of portability for intraoperative surgery (in an operating room and during surgery), for medical research in universities and hospitals and cost-effective solutions for affordable healthcare support and diagnosis in rural or remote areas.

"MRI system plays an important role in detection technique in medical science with the reasonable good level of accuracy. Further with the increasing magnetic flux level from 1.5 Tesla to 3 or 7 Tesla the accuracy of detection increases through better imaging quality," said Dr. Suprotim Ganguly, Chief Executive Officer, Global Innovation & Technology Alliance (GITA).

"In this context, I am happy to state that USB Canada along with Keynes Technologies, India under the India - Canada Joint Bilateral Industrial R& D project supported by DST/GITA, India & NRC Canada would be developing a Solid State RF Amplification based interface to enhance the signal of low Tesla MRI output to get a similar image quality of higher Tesla MRI which will bring about radical change in affordable healthcare sector in India & in other related market," he added.