STAR group’s X-ray detector work attracted seed funding from Grand Challenges Canada (a not-for-profit Canadian corporation that is also one of the largest impact-first investors in Canada) to develop a low-cost medical X-ray detector in 2012. The detector was to become an integral part of point of care clinics that screen for tuberculosis, a disease that kills more than 1.5 million people annually across the world mostly in developing countries in Asia and Africa.

In 2015, with support from the University of Waterloo, Grand Challenges Canada and Christie Digital, Amol Karnick, Karim S. Karim and Sina Ghanbarzadeh (a STAR group alumni) founded KA Imaging to commercialize the novel sensor technologies developed by the STAR group into imaging products that enable better healthcare outcomes at a global level.

Today, KA Imaging develops unique detectors and imaging products that leverage cutting edge multi-energy and phase contrast X-ray technologies for medical, industrial, veterinary, non-destructive, and scientific imaging customers.