Dr. Mehran Anvari was appointed to the Order of Ontario for his contributions to the field of robotic surgery.
Dr. Anvari is the CEO of the Centre for Surgical Invention and Innovation, and is the founding director of the Centre for Minimal Access Surgery. He is based at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton where he conducts miniminally-invasive and bariatric procedures and leads research studies.
In the past, Dr. Anvari performed the world’s first telerobotics-assisted surgery at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton – operating on a patient 400km away in North Bay. He was also awarded the NASA – International Space Station (ISS) R & D Award for his work in applying robotic technology from the International Space Station to detection and treatment of breast cancer.
Under his direction, the Centre for Minimal Access Surgery has trained over 1200 surgeons through 87 programs, providing them with their primary source of training in the newest techniques and applications of minimal access surgery.
His most recent work in partnership with MDA, creators of the Canadarm, Canadarm2 and Dextre, has been the creation of Image Guided Automated Robotics (IGAR) medical device to be used in the early detection and treatment of breast cancer. Subsequent iterations of the device will be used to detect and treat diseases in the lungs, liver, kidneys, spine, brain and bones. IGAR devices will have telerobotic capabilities which will enable the healthcare system to treat patients living in remote parts of Canada and beyond.
