Innovation success stories

Innovation Success: WinSanTor created a treatment to regenerate nerve fibres

WinSanTor is developing a topical treatment intended to stimulate the peripheral nervous system’s natural ability to regenerate nerve fibres. Dr. Paul Fernyhough collaborated with Dr. Nigel Calcutt at the University of California San Diego and Dr. Lakshmi Kotra at the U of T. 

In a clinical trial involving people with Type 2 diabetes and peripheral neuropathy, the topical treatment increased nerve-fibre density in the skin, providing evidence that the approach can promote nerve regeneration.

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Innovation Success: TetraGen is making manufacturing systems more intelligent

TetraGen CEO and co-founder Matt Khoshdarregi was an assistant professor of mechanical engineering when he founded the Intelligent Digital Manufacturing Laboratory, where he and his team explored how AI and 3D vision could make manufacturing systems more intelligent and adaptable. TetraGen’s systems are now being used by manufacturers in Manitoba, bringing the technology from early research and testing onto factory floors. 
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Innovation Success: UM-backed tech promises early diagnosis of chronic kidney disease

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) affects close to a billion people globally, often leading to organ failure due in part to the current high cost and complexity of lab tests.

The UM-affiliated startup AssureCKD is creating rapid and affordable lab-on-a-chip technology called MATLOC, that could be administered anywhere in the world at a patient’s point-of-care. This technology represents more than a decade of research by a UM inventor team led by Dr. Claudio Rigatto and Dr. Francis Lin.

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Innovation Success: The startup fighting viruses you can’t see

As the world continues to face new and emerging respiratory viruses, a UM-backed startup from researchers in the Max Rady College of Medicine is working to control airborne viruses before they spread using nanotechnology.

Nanotreat was founded on technology developed by Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics researchers Dr. Donald Miller, Dr. Vernon Dolinsky and Dr. Vinith Yathindranath to develop new tools for the prevention of airborne infections at the site of exposure.

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Innovation Success: From smelly hockey gear to safer surgeries – new tech fights bacteria

Hockey socks, football pads and sweat-soaked jerseys are all surfaces where bacteria have settled in and caused a stink. The bacteria causing these unpleasant odours is, however, part of a much larger problem.

In hospital corridors, there is a life and death battle to keep harmful bacteria from infecting vulnerable patients. In North America, that often means using disposable gowns, surgical drapes and covers. These single use items may be sterile, but they also create mountains of medical waste.

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