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Professor Sylvain Martel receives the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal
Sylvain Martel, full professor in the Department of Computer Engineering, has made a name for himself with his significant and innovative contributions to Canadian higher learning, the excellence of his research work, and his influence in the fields of nanorobotics and biomedical engineering.
In his classes and research work, Professor Martel marries robotics with biology, medical instrumentation and the pharmaceutical field. Today he is considered a pioneer in several areas, and his students, particularly at the graduate level, acquire cutting-edge competencies in steering micro-devices through the vascular system for cancer treatment and in using computer-controlled bacteria for various applications. These competencies are highly sought-after in numerous areas, including mechatronics, electronics, minimally invasive surgery, brain-computer interface implants, and medical instrumentation.
In 2007, Professor Martel and his team achieved a world first in the field of medical robotics when they succeeded in computer-guiding a micro-device in vivo, moving it at a speed of 10 cm/s through an artery. In collaboration with researchers at the Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM), and using computer programs, his team succeeded in injecting, propelling and directing a first vehicle prototype (a 1.5-millimetre-diameter sphere composed of ferromagnetic materials) within a pig's carotid artery using a clinical magnetic resonance imaging system. Encouraged by these results, the members of his laboratory pursued their efforts with a view to reducing the size of their devices so as to make it possible, within the next few years, to use them in smaller blood vessels in human beings.
In 2011, Professor Martel's team made a second spectacular advance in the field of nanomedicine. Using a magnetic resonance imaging device, the team succeeded in guiding micro-carriers loaded with a dose of doxorubicin (a medication currently used to fight cancer) through a rabbit's circulatory system all the way to its liver, where the medication could be released. This world first opened the doors to possible future improvements in chemoembolization, a treatment currently used to fight liver cancer.
The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal was created to mark the 2012 celebrations of the 60th anniversary of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II's accession to the Throne as Queen of Canada. During the year of celebrations, 60,000 deserving Canadians were recognized. The Chancellery of Honours, as part of the Office of the Secretary to the Governor General, administers the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal program.
Our heartiest congratulations to Professor Martel for this honour!
See also:
Professor Martel's expertise
Governor General of Canada's website
