A new private-sector partnership will see the installation of Canada’s first dedicated emergency department MRI scanner at the QEII Health Sciences Centre.
Dedicated access to an MRI machine means medical teams and patients will have faster access to critical information needed for diagnosis and treatment of traumatic brain injuries.
Over the next three years, the Biomedical Translational Imaging Centre at Nova Scotia Health Authority will work with Synaptive Medical Inc. to study the impacts of the MRI’s use in the emergency department. The results could determine a new standard of care in emergency departments across Canada.
The Research Nova Scotia Trust contributed $1.26 million to the project, which is being led by Nova Scotia Health Authority. Other funding partners include Synaptive Medical Inc., which has invested $1.4 million through in-kind contributions, and Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), which provided $700,000 toward the purchase of the MRI.
The MRI is expected to be in place by September. The research project will take three years.
“This project supports ground-breaking work by some of the province’s leading researchers,” said Colin Dodds, trustee of the Research Nova Scotia Trust. “The trust is proud to support innovative research projects that allow us to attract and retain the very best research talent.”
Since its creation in April 2017, the Research Nova Scotia Trust has provided $20 million in funding to 53 research projects.