A virtual reality system developed by medical physicists and researchers at The Ottawa Hospital is now being widely used to plan complex surgeries.A virtual reality system developed by medical physicists and researchers at The Ottawa Hospital is now being widely used to plan complex surgeries, following approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. 

Drs. Justin Sutherland and Daniel La Russa received support from The Ottawa Hospital and OHRI to file a patent for their technology and establish spinoff company Realize Medical in 2019. Their lead product converts two-dimensional medical images into a three-dimensional virtual reality environment that can be visualized with a headset and manipulated with a hand-held stylus. 

Dr. Sutherland, now CEO of Realize Medical, was recently interviewed by CTV National News about the product, together with Drs. Kawan Rakhra and Joel Werier. The story also profiles a local teen with rare bone cancer who benefited from surgery using this technology. 

Drs. Sutherland and La Russa continue to collaborate with many clinicians and researchers at The Ottawa Hospital on the evaluation and implementation of virtual reality technology.

The Ottawa Hospital is a leading academic health, research and learning hospital proudly affiliated with the University of Ottawa. All researchers at The Ottawa Hospital follow a Responsible Innovation framework for developing and commercializing innovations in a responsible way.