Innovative Projects Realized

Development of a Deep Learning algorithm to improve the image quality of the pictures taken by Quartet® real-time

1 in 5 people suffer from a mental illness, such as depression, Alzheimer’s & Parkinon’s during their lifetime. Currently, there are no treatments for these diseases, because the underlying causes of these diseases is not known. Neurescence has developed a technology that is essential for understanding how local and long-range neuronal circuits form to create healthy brain function, hence understand how these neuronal circuits are disrupted in each disease. This project is related in developing the technology required to obtain crucial information that will help companies and academic institutions to develop new treatments for brain diseases. The result is not only helping to push our knowledge of the brain and find better therapies, but also helping Neurescence realize its commercial goals, resulting into creation of jobs for highly skilled workers in STEM fields.

Development and implementation of an Edge AI IoT device with domain specific architecture to autonomously monitor children around pools

Costs are continually declining for internet connected devices, known as the internet-of-things (IoT), offering solutions across various consumer, commercial and industrial applications. Concurrently, machine learning (ML) models are continually expanding their deployment platforms, from massive central servers down to microcomputers. Innovative IoT devices will run the ML models without support from central data centers or other computers. Running the models covering any aspect of artificial intelligence (AI) within only the device, which is called “Edge AI”, will play a role in disrupting each and every data acquisition process or product globally.
By combining novel hardware, ML model compression and federated learning as a customized solution, Spectergy’s new device will be able to dramatically improve the scope and speed of running compressed ML models. This specific research project will focus on the Edge AI IoT device application domain of renewable energy generation and will result in an increased ability to capture, process and leverage onsite sensor input data to increase the efficiency of energy generation.

Fischer–Tropsch Synthesis for Production of Synthetic Jet Fuel

Greenfield Global is developing a process to produce jet fuel from renewable materials, such as waste biomass and organic municipal waste. Fischer–Tropsch synthesis converts a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen (synthesis gas) that was produced from the waste biomass and organic municipal waste into a synthetic crude oil that can be refined to produce jet fuel. This project deals only with Fischer–Tropsch synthesis.

Much is already known about Fischer–Tropsch synthesis and the objective of the work in this project is to fine-tune the catalyst and technology for synthetic jet fuel production. In collaboration with Greenfield Global, a pilot plant with multi-stage tubular packed bed reactors filled with an iron-based catalyst will be designed and commissioned to evaluate the design envisioned for their synthetic jet fuel process. Important objectives are to maintain reaction conditions so that heat can be recovered by generating high-pressure steam, to enable sufficiently high overall conversion that recycling of synthesis gas can be avoided, and to produce a product that would benefit refinery design for jet fuel production.

Floodplain maps inventory and pathway for flood-induced risk assessment in BC

The BC Real Estate Association aims to develop the localized flood vulnerability index (LOFVI). The intention is to increase awareness of new floodplain maps among governments, realtors and consumers through the final report and assess the impact of senior government funding programs. The first step will be to update and prepare an inventory of floodplain maps across the province of BC, which will provide important information that communities need for land use decisions alongside helping property buyers make informed decisions. Secondly, assessment of flood-induced risks and development of a LoFVI, while taking Kelowna as a case study. The methodological pathway would further help develop a functional index for BC i.e. BCLoFVI.

Development of new methods for screening bioilogics by means of Capillary Electrophoresis (CE) coupled with Mass-Spectrometer (MS) via novel Open Port Probe Sampling Interface (OPP)

The methods for screening complex biological samples found wide application in pharmaceutics, forensic science and medical science. The majority of these methods involve several analytical techniques coupled together in order to maximize the efficiency of the analysis. For example, the combination of Capillary Electrophoresis (CE) with Mass Spectrometry (MS) creates a new analytical platform (CE-MS) that utilizes the separation power of CE and superior detection abilities of MS. The weak points of such a platform are the poorly developed coupling interface and incompatibility of CE and MS buffers. Thus, existing interfaces suffer from clogging and cannot keep the stable spray pattern, which results in poor reproducibility of the experiments. Incompatibility of CE and MS buffers does not allow analysis of non-volatile solutions, which limits the range of applicable CE approaches and requires additional steps of sample preparation. We are aiming to overcome all listed limitations by developing new CE-MS coupling model that will be utilizing Open Port Probe Sampling Interface (OPP). Next, we’ll be applying CE-MS coupled with OPP for the development of immunological assays and for the screening of disease-related biomarkers in the biological fluids.

Safety and effectiveness of Mifegymiso® offered through different service delivery points: a national prospective cohort study

Medication abortion with mifepristone and misoprostol has the potential to advance women’s access to safe and geographically accessible abortion care. Improved access to medication abortion protects women’s right to health and supports women’s autonomy and agency. However, the over-regulation of mifepristone in much of the Global North has muted the promise of this pill-based regimen of abortion care. Although Health Canada only approved mifepristone in 2015, Canada’s regulatory environment has leapfrogged that of other countries, thus allowing the mifepristone/misoprostol regimen to be integrated into a range of service delivery systems, including a number of demedicalized strategies. In this two-year national prospective cohort study we aim to collect information from different types of providers to assess the safety and effectiveness associated with the provision of medication abortion. We aim to analyze quantitative data from approximately 15,000 patients to assess safety and effectiveness and identify any differences in outcome by type of service delivery and geographic location. This study represents a partnership between the University of Ottawa and the National Abortion Federation (NAF) Canada. Our findings will have programmatic and policy implications and the results will support the efforts of NAF Canada to improve access to medication abortion in Canada and beyond.

An improved pipeline for processing and analysis of facial surface images in medicine

This Mitacs proposal tackles several outstanding issues that must be addressed to complete development of a widely applicable pipeline for quantitative analysis of 3D facial shape in medicine. Here, we focus on specific applications of imaging pipelines in genetic syndrome diagnosis and facial surgery visualization and planning. The fellows will develop (a) cutting edge, deep learning models of 3D facial shape variation, (b) optimal strategies for defining boundaries between regions, (c) methods to infer high resolution skin color and texture from low resolution images, (d) and models that integrate 3D facial shape data with discrete and preference data for various purposes.

Air microfluidics enabled edema sleeve

We are working on active compression sleeves for treating edema, which is the swelling of tissues due to the build-up of excess fluids, impacting roughly 40% of individuals with chronic spinal cord injuries. The technology behind this active compression sleeve is air microfluidics and minifluidics. The goal is to deliver a product that increases the quality of life of its users. To achieve this, we adopt a user-centric design philosophy, focusing on user needs such as making sure it is easy to put on and take off, at a reasonable price point, looks good, lightweight, and comfortable for daily on-the-go use. Our major difference with existing products is that we have developed a much smaller control box that can be pocketed or integrated as part of the active compression sleeve while retaining the state-of-the-art performances. This project will put Air Microfluidic Systems at the forefront of the next generation apparel.

Assessment of freshwater mussel species at risk translocations due to river infrastructure works: A case study of Argyll Bridge and the Grand River

This project seeks to understand the impact of translocation on freshwater mussel communities due to river infrastructure works in the Grand River, Ontario, Canada. We will determine the recovery of mussel communities post-translocation, and place them into context with similar translocations from across the region. The work will involve new empirical data on mussel recovery from the initial relocation in 2020 to 3 years post-relocation. We will also conduct further research on mussel – host fish relationships, importance of environmental conditions on mussel health, and leverage information from additional datasets to understand long-term recovery trajectories. We will engage local knowledge holders to understand the local history and importance of species-at-risk including the Indigenous rights holders of the region. This work will deepen understanding of the ecology of freshwater mussels and their host-fishes, and advance best practices associated with river infrastructure projects implemented by our partners across Ontario and beyond.

Microchemical techniques to evaluate priority contaminant sources along the migration routes of Chinook (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch)

Adult Chinook and Coho Salmon migrate to a variety of marine regions around the North Pacific. Along these migration routes, the contaminants they encounter and consume will vary. These returning salmon are consumed by humans and Southern Resident Killer Whales, and the health risk they pose will be dependent on their migration routes and diets. Otolith microchemistry provides a record of where salmon have been throughout their lives. By comparing the microchemistry of returning salmon to the microchemical profiles of various marine regions, we can determine the migration route undertaken by each individual salmon and relate that to its contaminant load. We propose to compare the microchemical profile of various marine regions to returning Chinook and Coho Salmon to determine the different contaminant loads associated with migration routes and diet.

Accelerated Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage in Mine Tailings

Reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to limit the impacts of climate change requires implementation of CO2 reduction technologies across a wide variety of industries. This research project will develop carbon management and sequestration technologies for reducing CO2 emissions in the mining industry with a focus on diamond mines in Canada, South Africa and Botswana. The outcomes of this research will be used by mine operators to implement carbon sequestration processes, which will improve mine waste management practices and environmental performance, reduce operational costs, and benefit local communities. This research will aid Canada’s transition to a low-carbon economy and make significant contributions to environmental sustainability, while providing knowledge and training for three postdoctoral fellows in mineral carbonation and tailings management.

Identification of Physiologic Biomarkers in Patients with ObstructiveSleep Apnea (OSA): A Step Towards a Precision Care Approach

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common disease characterized by recurrent collapse of the airway during sleep leading to sleep fragmentation and daytime sleepiness. OSA is usually diagnosed based on an overnight sleep study (polysomnogram) which collects detailed physiologic information over the night. OSA patients are also at increased risk of cardiovascular disease such as heart attacks and strokes. However, it is difficult to predict which patients are at particularly high risk; knowing which patients are at greatest risk would be helpful in guiding therapy as they would be candidates for more aggressive OSA therapy and cardiovascular risk reduction. Currently, one neglected opportunity is more in depth analysis of the polysomnogram as currently, very little of the data is used in clinical decision making. The purpose of this project is to use a large dataset of patients studied with a sleep study (1500 patients) who have detailed demographic and symptom data. These patients will be linked to population databases to ascertain validated cardiovascular events in them. Using advanced signal processing and machine learning techniques, information from the polysomnogram (and clinical data) will be used to develop a robust prediction model.