The capacity to create novel devices is a cornerstone of medical innovation. In Sunnybrook Research Institute’s device development laboratory—Canada’s first of this scope based in a hospital—scientists and engineers are designing and producing complex medical devices under highly controlled conditions. The overarching aim is to design more effective and safer ways to detect disease, deliver therapy and guide interventions. Devices are then tested for proof of principle and, if successful, clinically, in collaboration with other researchers and clinicians. Ultimately, our aim is to commercialize the devices we invent, so we can move them into the medical marketplace to benefit patients.

Main goals are as follows:

To accelerate development of clinically relevant medical devices for large-scale or orphan applications
To design, fabricate, test and validate candidate devices efficiently
To create a centre of expertise for teaching skills related to device development, preclinical testing and validation
To provide facilities and expertise that enable commercialization of new devices