The National Research Council Institute for Biodiagnostics (Atlantic) (NRC-IBDA) is a research laboratory located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, with its headquarters (Institute for Biodiagnostics) located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
NRC-IBD (Atlantic) was established as a satellite lab in 2003[1] to develop noninvasive medical devices and techniques to increase prospects for prevention, earlier diagnosis, improved treatment and prognosis of diseases.[2]
NRC-IBD (Atlantic) has three satellite laboratories encompassing 10,000 square feet (930 m2). The Neuroimaging Research Laboratory (NRL), located in the QEII Health Sciences Centre, houses a 4-Tesla whole body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system. The 4T MRI provides high resolution anatomical, functional and spectroscopic imaging. The NRL also incorporates electroencephalographic (EEG) technology and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) allowing for multimodal imaging capability.
The Biomedical MRI Research Laboratory (BMRL), located at the IWK Health Centre, has a cellular and molecular imaging program[3] allowing researchers to probe the effectiveness of drug delivery strategies and cellular homing, in the development of therapies for a broad range of neurodegenerative disorders.
The Laboratory for Clinical Magnetoencephalography (LCM), also located at the IWK Health Centre, houses a 306-channel Elekta Neuromag MEG system (with 64-channel EEG). The MEG lab advances clinical care for a host of brain diseases, and is particularly well suited to address the fundamental and growing need for medical discoveries that benefit children.
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At its core, the NRC-IBD (Atlantic) is committed to transferring research and development innovations in neuroscience to the clinical and commercial sectors. These new tools improve the diagnosis and treatment of brain illness, and help Canadian companies capture a larger share of the medical devices market.
Clinical translation is achieved through the integration of its three main strengths:
IBDA has multi-modal imaging capabilities, including:
Structural imaging identifies changes in the anatomy of the brain, due to effects like trauma or tumour growth. Functional imaging allows it to investigate which parts of the brain are implicated in a specific task, like hearing sounds or generating language.
Its scientific staff includes experts in all of these techniques. Because its mandate is focused on translating basic research into the clinic and industry, it can combine approaches utilizing these different modalities towards one common end.
Understanding how the brain works to accomplish a given task leads to innovations in treatment of related brain disorders. IBD-Atlantic’s core neuroscience team is focused on understanding which brain areas are involved when persons do tasks well, or when they are unable to accomplish the same task. These areas can be targeted for treatment, and monitored during rehabilitation to assist health professionals in assessing recovery.
Identifying parts of the brain that are essential for daily life (so-called “eloquent” areas) is also an important factor when brain surgery is required. Functional imaging identifies dysfunctional brain areas that the neurosurgeon should target, and eloquent areas that should be spared. This helps minimize the length of surgery and can improve outcomes for the patient.
Neuroscience is like many things in life: quality work requires, not just having the right tools, but using them properly. High-tech imaging technologies are essential to the work at the IBD. However, another key strength is its ability to develop and utilize new analysis techniques for neuroscientific data. These techniques are fed by constant developments in physics, math, statistics and computing power. Its neuroscience team is committed to using these technological developments to find ways to improve a health professional's ability to make an accurate diagnosis.