Since May 1992, the National Research Council Institute for Biodiagnostics (NRC/IBD) in Winnipeg has grown from 25 people to over 200 researchers and staff. The Institute's mandate is to provide the forum to perform world-class research in noninvasive medical diagnostics and transfer this knowledge to the commercialization of this technology. The goal is that NRC/IBD-developed products and expertise should stimulate the local economy and that of Canada.

One of the spin-off instrumentation companies spawned from the NRC/IBD is Winnipeg's own Innovative Medical Resonance Imaging Systems. IMRIS is becoming a stand-alone Manitoba manufacturer of MRI systems for use in neurosurgical operating rooms. Although a seven-year old company, they are continuing to split from the NRC/IBD in 2004 by moving their operation to SmartPark, a technology-friendly commercial development in close proximity to the University of Manitoba.

The IMRIS intra-operative MR system is a diagnostic and intra-operative tool for radiologists and surgeons. The main goal of the system is to provide a valuable adjunct to standard neurosurgical care without adversely affecting surgical, anesthetic and nursing management. At the heart of this system is a 1.5 Tesla magnet, which is stationed in an adjacent "docking bay" separate from the surgical and sterile field area. When it is required prior to and during surgery, and again before closure, the magnet is brought into scanning position and then removed. Once the scan is complete, images can be viewed immediately.

"The point of the system is to allow surgeons to have the most up-to-date images available to them prior to and even during surgery," explains Brian Keown of IMRIS, "as there is sometimes a long wait for an MRI and between that time and surgery the images can change. This technology allows immediate images to be taken without moving equipment into the operating room from other areas or moving a patient."

This system provides surgeons with both rapid state-of-the-art imaging when needed and complete access to the surgical field around the patient when needed. It also permits the surgeon to use the most appropriate equipment for the surgical procedure.

"The design was definitely influenced by surgical staff while the company, which is a spin-off of the NRC/IBD, took full advantage of the technological depth of the IBD," Keown says.

The system can also be laid out in back-to-back rooms separated by a "magnet clocking bay" that houses the magnet when not in use. A two-room setting allows the establishment of OR/OR or OR/Clinical Diagnostic suites. The magnet can travel into either room as required and can be directed by a single MR technologist.