SME in the Spotlight: Imeka

Illuminating the brain’s white matter on a global stage

From its Sherbrooke roots to its global collaborations, Imeka exemplifies how a focused Canadian SME can influence the future of neuroscience. By combining advanced imaging science, artificial intelligence and a patient-centred vision, the company is not only advancing the understanding of white-matter health but also shaping the next generation of neurological diagnostics and therapies.

The story behind Imeka

Imeka began in 2011 in Sherbrooke, Québec, as a spin-off from advanced neuroimaging research at the University of Sherbrooke, its founding mission to unlock the potential of the brain’s white matter. White matter, the intricate network of nerve fibres that enables communication between brain regions, holds critical clues for understanding conditions such as multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, traumatic brain injury and neurodevelopmental disorders.

ANDI - Advanced Neurodiagnostic Imaging

What sets Imeka apart is its fusion of academic rigor and practical application. The company specialises in diffusion MRI (dMRI), most commonly referred to as diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), a sophisticated technique that maps white-matter microstructure with exceptional precision. By developing advanced image-processing pipelines and machine-learning algorithms, Imeka delivers quantitative, non-invasive biomarkers that reveal subtle neurological changes, often before symptoms appear. Known as ANDI (Advanced Neurodiagnostic Imaging), this is at the core of the company’s product focus. CEO Jean-René Bélanger explains. “In a nutshell, we have developed a software as a medical device that is designed to do post-processing on brain images, extracting the brain's white matter and, so, exposing brain connectivity. It’s a fully automated software package that helps neurologists and neuroradiologists understand and have additional information on the brain microstructure. It is also cleared for use in the US, our primary market.” This capability has made Imeka a trusted partner for imaging centres and hospitals in the United States.

Innovation through software and systems

Software and systems innovation are transforming neuroimaging at a breathtaking pace, and Imeka has been at the forefront of that evolution. Jean-René: “Our software is based on image processing and artificial intelligence, and so we fit quite well in the environment of advanced medical devices and the collaboration between them and imaging. The burden on radiologists is humongous – the reading times and reading load is just out of this world. We need to make sure that they can streamline their workload on both the technical and reading side as well as be able to extract information from the images themselves and have something comprehensible. It’s evolved so much in the past few years, but there’s a lot to do still in that space."

Imeka's cloud-based analytics platform combines diffusion imaging, tractography and statistical analysis, enabling large-scale studies with reproducible, reliable metrics of white-matter health. Clinicians gain a clearer picture of disease progression, empowering earlier and more personalised interventions, while pharmaceutical partners use these tools to track how experimental therapies affect neural pathways, accelerating drug discovery and validating treatment efficacy. "Ongoing integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning ensures that our metrics remain state-of-the-art and clinically relevant," Jean-René says. This proactive approach has attracted collaborations across North America, Europe and Asia, securing the company's reputation as an innovator in neurotechnology.