AAPS has provided business development services and financing to help form a new company dedicated to reducing X-ray exposure during fluoroscopic-guided medical procedures.
Image-guided, minimally invasive medical interventions provide an alternative to open surgery that is rapidly being adopted across the globe. However, the X-ray exposure to patients and medical staff during long fluoroscopy-guided procedures is a growing concern. The medical community, governmental regulators, healthcare labour organizations and even mainstream media are openly discussing concerns about exposure levels that can be equivalent to thousands of chest X-rays.
Strategies to reduce this side effect have been discussed and studied for at least a decade. Radiation-induced heath risks in patients undergoing fluoroscopy, such as skin burns, have been recognized for many years. Furthermore, medical staff performing fluoroscopies have been prone to back-related injuries from prolonged use of heavy lead aprons to protect themselves from radiation exposure. Recent research of fluoroscopy procedures has also demonstrated an increased risk of radiation-induced cataracts for medical staff and cancer in patients, promoting discussion on occupational hazards and better regulatory mandates in fluoroscopic procedures.
Several talented entrepreneurs in Vancouver (Dan Gelbart, Dr. Sam Lichtenstein, and Dr. Lindsay Machan) have teamed up with AAPS to develop a technology that would autonomously and selectively shutter the x-ray source to reduce radiation exposure to the patient while preserving imaging quality in the region of interest. The team has formed IKOMED Technologies, Inc., with the explicit goal of commercializing and deploying this technology in operating rooms around the world. 
IKOMED’s technology is based on an innovative, patent-pending, fast-moving lead shutter that is automatically adjusted in size and position before each X-ray exposure pulse. The shutter and supporting mechanisms are used to create an image with a region-of-interest that is exposed at a standard level of radiation, while the remaining parts of the image are produced by a lower radiation dose. This advancement reduces the amount of radiation exposure to the patient and scattered radiation to medical staff.
Having completed the first round of financing, the company is off to a strong start. A number of fluoroscopy vendors have expressed interest in the technology and IKOMED looks forward to working with them to demonstrate the system’s efficacy in full-scale fluoroscopy systems soon.
