St. Boniface Hospital Research alumni Dr. Mark Torchia and Richard Tyc are one of six teams receiving the inaugural Governor General’s Innovation Awards for their development of the NeuroBlate® System.
Dr. Mark Torchia
“It’s an overwhelming honour to have our work recognized through this new award,” Torchia says. “Richard and I set out decades ago to develop a medical device that could help patients who otherwise had no other options. We recognize and greatly appreciate all the support we received from St-Boniface Hospital Albrechtsen Research Centre, the University of Manitoba, our talented colleagues, investors, and not the least, our dear families. We also give our thanks to the patients and their families that have acted so selflessly to help so many others. It is truly humbling and gratifying.”
Richard Tyc
NeuroBlate, which allows brain surgeons to destroy previously inoperable tumors deep inside the brain, also won the Ernest C. Manning Principal Award in October 2015.
The NeuroBlate System, developed at the St-Boniface Hospital Albrechtsen Research Centre, is a unique technology that encapsulates the criteria for the Governor General’s Innovation Awards: exceptional technology that transforms a field and positively impacts the quality of life in Canada.
Torchia and Tyc will receive their award at the inaugural ceremony at Rideau Hall, in Ottawa, on May 19.
How NeuroBlate works: Surgeons begin by drilling a hole in the skull about the size of a pencil. They insert the Monteris NeuroBlate® System MRI-guided laser probe and use real-time data to guide the probe through the brain to the tumor. There, the surgeons can put the probe into the cancerous mass and destroy it from the inside out with a laser. Essentially, this new tool allows surgeons to cook the tumor with lethal heat that they can control with unprecedented ability. The tumor is destroyed and the healthy surrounding tissue is preserved. It is the only system in the world that allows surgeons to see the tumor in 3-D, providing them with critical information they need to make treatment decisions in the operating room.
“We are extremely proud of Dr. Torchia and Mr. Tyc for winning one of the inaugural Governor General’s Innovation Awards,” says David T. Barnard, president and vice-chancellor of the University of Manitoba. “Dr. Torchia is a professor and alumnus of this University, and Mr. Tyc is an alumnus—together they previously won the Manning Principal Award. Their life-saving technology is transforming neurosurgery around the globe and all Manitobans should be proud of the groundbreaking research and development being done at the St-Boniface Hospital Albrechtsen Research Centre, a long-time research partner of the University’s.”
Torchia is currently an associate professor of surgery in the U of M’s College of Medicine and the director of the University’s Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning. Tyc is vice-president, technology and advanced technology, at Monteris Medical, a spin-off company established in 1999 to create groundbreaking neurosurgical technologies.
Dr. Mark Torchia, right, with Dr. Rudy Danzinger. St. Boniface Hospital Department of Surgery, 1991
(L-R) Dr. Digvir Jayas, VP Research and International, University of Manitoba; Dr. Mark Torchia, Associate Professor of Surgery, College of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba; Mr. Richard Tyc, Vice President, Technology and Advanced Development, Monteris Medical; Mr. Chuck LaFléche, President and CEO, St-Boniface Hospital Foundation; Dr. Grant Pierce, Executive Director of Research, St-Boniface Hospital – © Josh Schaefer/GetMyPhoto.ca
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