OTTAWA, ON, - Investing in Canadian small businesses to develop innovative tools, products and services helps protect the safety of Canada's food and the health of our plants and animals.
Today, the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Health, and the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, announced a $1 million investment in Bioimaging Research Solutions Inc., a small business based in Guelph, Ontario, to continue their work to develop cutting-edge technology to protect Canadian livestock from bovine tuberculosis and support market access for Canada's beef and cattle exports. With this investment, the company is developing an artificial intelligence system to improve the efficiency of disease surveillance activities in slaughter plants.
Bovine tuberculosis is a contagious bacterial disease of livestock that can result in production losses, barriers to market access and risks to both animal and public health. Current methodologies of detection are long and cumbersome, and there are no known automated tools to support surveillance efforts. Bioimaging Research Solutions Inc. will receive $1 million over two years to develop an automated surveillance tool that will scan cattle carcasses as they move along a slaughter line. Machine learning algorithms will be used to "teach" the automated system to differentiate between tissue of concern and healthy tissue. The automated tool will be able to make split-second decisions when assessing the tissue for detection of granulomas for bovine tuberculosis surveillance, helping inspectors check for signs of disease more efficiently.
Canada has made great strides towards eradicating bovine tuberculosis, and all provinces and territories are currently recognized as free from the disease in domestic livestock. Improvements to disease surveillance can help to maintain Canada's status as free from bovine tuberculosis, thereby preserving market access opportunities. Ultimately, this innovation may support Canada's efforts to detect animal diseases early, while maintaining Canada's reputation as a supplier of safe and high quality livestock and livestock products to our current and future trading partners.
Bioimaging Research Solutions Inc. previously received $150,000 through the Innovative Solutions Canada program to develop a proof of concept as part of Phase 1 of the "Detection of granulomas for tuberculosis surveillance" challenge. The company successfully completed Phase 1 and this additional funding will support the development of a prototype as part of Phase 2 of the challenge.
The Government of Canada's continued collaboration with small businesses results in novel solutions that help protect Canadians, the environment and the economy, both now and into the future.
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Source : Newswire.ca