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For creating a pocket-sized wound imaging platform with the potential to save billions of dollars and countless lives—and getting it to market in record time— Dr. Karen Cross is Atlantic Business Magazine’s 2024 Stewart McKelvey Innovator of the Year.
Ask the average Canadian what health problem they fear most, and they’re likely to answer cancer, cardiovascular disease or even dementia. But after 24 years working as a plastic and reconstructive surgeon, Dr. Karen Cross knew there was a significant health threat facing Canadians, one that few people are even aware of.
In Canada, chronic or hard-to-heal wounds afflict thousands of people. These wounds can stem from conditions like diabetes or vascular disease, or emerge when someone has been immobilized, resulting in a pressure ulcer. Medical conditions that affect the skin can also lead to chronic wounds, as can accidental injuries and burns. For those affected, the impact can be long-term disability, lifelong pain or even death. A recent estimate by the charity, Wounds Canada, put the cost of wound care in Canada at $11 billion, and some research indicates wounds make up as much as 50 per cent of healthcare interventions.
Indeed, the severity and volume of health problems caused by chronic wounds and skin breakdown are such that some researchers are calling it an epidemic—and a silent one at that. The underrecognized nature of the problem is complicated by the difficulty, even among experienced clinicians, of spotting wounds before they become problematic.
“There’s only one way to solve it. You’ve got to be bold, and you’ve got to put yourself full-time into it. And it’s happening, right? We’re solving problems.”
—Dr. Karen Cross
Cross knew the problem could no longer be ignored—and that her clinical experience together with her PhD in Optical Imaging made her uniquely qualified to solve it. In 2016, Cross co-founded MIMOSA Diagnostics, a med-tech company aimed at addressing chronic wounds.
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