The RigidReclaim™ technology under development by Entropex is an innovative process which converts a comingled, contaminated Mixed Rigid waste stream into highly pure, commercially valuable resins. The non-uniform natures of the plastic waste pose a significant challenge to satisfy the quality requirements for high-value applications. This project is a critical component of the RigidReclaim™ technology and it aims at tailoring the rheological properties of the recovered resin streams comparable to those of virgin resins with reliable novel chemical additives. The results will be optimized and integrated into the RigidReclaim™ process to create highly pure resin streams from the complex, non-uniform feedstock. The final products will be examined by the end-user consortium partners to substitute the virgin resins in the production. The success of the project will deliver sustainable economic and environmental benefits, not only to the partners, but also to a broad number of Canadians.

Dynamic Nuclear Polarisation makes it possible to boost the MRI signal of ¹³C labelled pyruvate 10,000-fold, overcoming the low natural signal of carbon. This makes imaging of metabolic processes possible, and could provide useful insight on changes in cellular metabolism due to cancer. Imaging the metabolic products of pyruvate allows monitoring not only where metabolism is taking place, but also the metabolic process itself.  The limited duration of the hyperpolarized state necessitates rapid imaging techniques, including a technique known as parallel MRI.  In order to take advantage of this technique, new coil arrays are required, and will be developed with the expertise available at XLR Resonance. This will make it possible for the first time to produce high resolution images of how relative metabolite concentrations are changing as a function of time, and position XLR Resonance at the forefront of this emerging field. Previously inaccessible avenues for non-invasive assessment of cancer metabolism will be opened up by development of this new technology.

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) consists in implanting electrodes delivering electric stimuli in deep brain structures to relieve motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD). Even if DBS is successful in alleviating symptoms for about 50,000 patients worldwide, it is an invasive neurosurgical technique, and its mechanisms of action remain elusive. This therapy could be greatly improved by targeting the cortex, also impacted by DBS. However, a pre-requisite is to understand how cortical activity is impacted by DBS. To this end, a large-scale mathematical model of brain activity will be developed and used to predict electroencephalogram (EEG) and blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD, measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging, fMRI) signals of PD patients when DBS is turned "on/off". This model will be validated using EEG and fMRI data obtained in PD patients. This work has potential for software and hardware developments for Multi Magnetics Inc., private sector partner on this project.

Thrombolytic therapy is the mainstay of stroke treatment. However, this treatment can be potentially harmful. A patient-specific model of expected outcome would greatly facilitate the treatment decision making process both for clinicians and patients. We propose to develop a clinical tool by incorporating the imaging and clinical dataset to predict the fate of tissue in ischemic stroke. We expect the product to enable real-time quantification of expected tissue outcomes using patient- and tissue- specific thresholds. This interdisciplinary project integrates Biomedical Engineering, Radiology and Neurology in developing an advanced health clinical tool, to guide the decision-making process in stroke treatment. Intellectual property and products developed will be transferred to the clinical partners at the Sunnybrook hospital.