The advanced machine shop is part of the device development lab within the Centre for Research in Image-Guided Therapeutics at Sunnybrook Research Institute. It is a state-of-the-art facility equipped for the design, fabrication and testing of medical devices. It specializes in the manufacture of magnetic resonance imaging-compatible devices, prototypes, custom-made parts and catheter-based devices, and in 3-D computer-assisted design. The technicians within the facility are capable of working from drawings, hand sketches or ideas in one’s head, and can help transform a concept into a working prototype. Materials used in the facility include aluminum, stainless steel, plastics, brass, wood and exotic materials.

The facility is equipped with a computer numerical controlled lathe and mill, five-axis waterjet cutter, rapid prototypers (stereolithography and fused deposition modeling technology in a variety of materials), manual lathes, manual mills, hydraulic shear, bender, table saw, router and bead blaster. The machines and services of technicians are available to users within Sunnybrook Research Institute, the hospital, external academic institutions and industrial clients at competitive rates.

In addition to fabricating parts, the facility performs testing and characterization of medical imaging systems in partnership with Sunnybrook Research Institute scientists.