PHOTO ABOVE: Dr. Glenio Mizubuti, Dr. Gregory Klar and Dr. Tracy Cupido pitch their bone-enhanced ultrasound (BEUS) system, which uses artificial intelligence to create real-time 3D spinal images.
Two groundbreaking ideas designed to transform patient care and strengthen health services across southeastern Ontario received a total of $60,000 at University Hospitals Kingston Foundation’s (UHKF) annual Discovery Den event on Nov. 13.
The live-pitch event, modelled after the popular TV show Dragons’ Den, brought together frontline innovators from Kingston Health Sciences Centre (KHSC) before a panel of community judges who chose their top projects and how much money each received.
The panel of judges featured Ryan (Sideshow) Lemmon, Greg Brown, Alicia Gordon, Tommy Hunter, and last-minute substitute, Keagan Davis-Burns. These judges were selected due to their passion for supporting health care and their various professional backgrounds, providing a realistic perspective on the purposed projects from the perspective of a Kingston community member.
Sideshow, a radio host on WOW 102.7 FM, said the evening showcased the ingenuity happening inside Kingston’s hospitals.
“There were some amazing pitches tonight that were very innovative,” he said. “We talked about everything from alternate light technology to artificial intelligence. The work that these people at our hospitals are doing is absolutely amazing.”
This year’s two successful pitches—which were ultimately selected out of a field of 10 initial funding applications—focused on advancing forensic nursing through Alternate Light Source (ALS) technology and reducing barriers to chronic back-pain treatment through a groundbreaking bone-enhanced ultrasound system.
The first funded project pitched by KHSC forensic nurses Nadia Weese and Gina Hovencamp will bring ALS technology to KHSC’s Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence program. ALS uses filtered light to reveal subtle bruising, patterned injuries, and biological fluids that cannot be seen with the naked eye. The technology is non-invasive, allowing for a more compassionate exam while also supporting survivors who delay reporting—since ALS can detect healing or faint injuries.
For survivors, the impact is twofold: having patients feeling validated by providing evidence to prove their assault accusation, and stronger forensic evidence that will help lawyers and police better prosecute the perpetrator.
“We help turn victims into survivors,” said Weese. “They come to us with a trauma. We help them rebuild their lives and put them on a journey towards healing as well as towards being able to fight whoever did this to them. So, we just feel really blessed to get this funding because we know we are able to do more for them.”
The second winning proposal aims to change how chronic low-back pain is treated. Developed by anesthesiologists Dr. Tracy Cupido, Dr. Glenio Mizubuti and Dr. Gregory Klar (in partnership with Dr. Tamas Ungi, Dr. Andras Lasso and Chris Yeung from the Perk Lab at the Queen’s University School of Computing), the bone-enhanced ultrasound (BEUS) system uses artificial intelligence to create real-time 3D spinal images.
This technology could one day replace fluoroscopy—an X-ray-based technique currently required for spinal injections—making procedures safer, faster and more accessible. BEUS would eliminate radiation exposure, reduce costs and allow more providers (including those in rural and remote areas) to perform spine procedures.
“I'm grateful to have a supportive community who can come together and allow us to present in this really fun, exciting way and to connect with donors and help make this project happen,” said Dr. Cupido.
For Dr. Mizubuti, the long-term potential of BEUS extends far beyond Kingston.
“Once we get this product patented as a commercialized type of product, we believe that it could spread to literally the whole world. Not only in Kingston and across Canada.”
The team will now begin a human-trial phase involving patients at the Hotel Dieu Hospital site, comparing BEUS guidance to traditional fluoroscopy.
The event was emceed by Emma Fitzgerald (YGK Healthcare Champions Executive Committee member) and Dr. Lawrence Hookey (Chair for the Division of Gastroenterology and the Medical Director of the Endoscopy Units at KHSC).
PHOTO BELOW: Forensic nurses Nadia Weese and Gina Hovencamp (standing) moments after learning they are receiving $15,000 to bring Alternate Light Source (ALS) technology to the Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence program at KHSC.
