The team at health care startup Cobionix met Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during his visit to an Indigenous health initiative the company supports.
Co-founded in 2021 by Waterloo Engineering alumni Nima Zamani and Dr. Tim Lasswell (both BASc ‘14 and MASc ‘16, mechanical and mechatronics engineering) with John Van Leeuwen (BSc ‘81), Cobionix builds autonomous medical robots that can help make health care more accessible and is based out of Velocity in downtown Kitchener.
Trudeau’s visit was part of a larger trip to Saskatchewan where the prime minister announced Budget 2024 funding for Indigenous communities to address health disparities in rural and remote areas.
Cobionix is conducting remote ultrasound clinical trials on Codi™, its AI-powered robotics system that can perform ultrasounds, at Saskatoon’s Virtual Health Hub. The hub is set to receive $21 million to develop, adopt and deliver health-care services to remote communities.
“Cobionix is thrilled to participate in a transformative initiative that aims to tackle health disparities faced by rural and remote communities,” said Waterloo alum Matthew Sefati (BSc ‘16) and CEO at Cobionix. “Through our innovative AI-enabled robotic platform Codi™, and its pioneering ultrasound application, we are helping bridge the health-care gap.”
The company is part of Velocity, Canada’s most successful startup incubator, and aims to offer fully autonomous ultrasounds — where the robot will undertake all parts of the ultrasound procedure without the need for technician supervision — in all of Saskatchewan and eventually across North America.
Meeting Codi, the autonomous robot that can perform remote ultrasounds. (Back L-R) Chief Darcy Bear (Whitecap Dakota First Nation, Dan Vandal, Northern Affairs Minister, Riel Bellegarde, president of Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies, Marci Ien, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth of Canada. (Front L-R) Justin Trudeau and Dr. Ivar Mendez, director of the Virtual Care and Remote Presence Lab at the University of Saskatchewan.