London’s Deep Breathe Wins About $1 Million FedDev Backing for AI Lung Ultrasound
London, Ontario’s Deep Breathe Inc. is receiving roughly C$1 million from the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario to scale and commercialize ATLAS, its AI software that reads lung ultrasounds at the bedside and in the field, CBC News reported on October 13. The announcement at the company’s King Street headquarters was delivered by London Centre MP Peter Fragiskatos and London West MP Arielle Kayabaga on behalf of AI and digital innovation minister Evan Solomon, who also oversees FedDev Ontario.
Paired with a portable ultrasound probe, ATLAS is designed to flag pneumothorax, hemorrhage and other lung injuries without a traditional chest X-ray—what the company calls radiation-free diagnostics for hospitals, paramedicine and battlefield care. Founded in 2020 out of Western University’s research park, Deep Breathe now employs about 15 people. Founder and CEO Dr. Rob Arntfield said the money will fund hiring and the regulatory slog toward U.S. Food and Drug Administration clearance and Health Canada authorization.
The cheque sits inside Ottawa’s broader C$500 million expansion of the Regional Artificial Intelligence Initiative to a C$700 million envelope, though Deep Breathe’s story is a commercialization case rather than another national-funding headline. Last month the firm was named one of 15 companies on NATO DIANA’s Mission Track, and Arntfield said militaries and two Ukrainian medical groups have already shown demand even while the product remains in prototype stages.
What it means in practice
For southern Ontario’s AI corridor, FedDev’s bet puts a clinical device company on the same adoption track as the C$500 million RAII top-up that lifted the program to C$700 million. Defence-minded peers such as Caseway, which turned down U.S. government work to focus on Canadian defence, show how dual-use AI is being steered toward domestic buyers. Clinics already wrestling with AI chatbots shaping patient visits in Nova Scotia will watch whether ultrasound AI earns the same bedside trust.
Regulatory timing is the hard gate. An FDA application is already in, Health Canada is next, and hospital procurement will not move until those stamps arrive. Symbolic federal backing matters for a 15-person shop, but sales still hinge on clinical evidence and liability cover for false negatives in trauma settings.
What to watch: whether ATLAS clears FDA and Health Canada on the current timelines, how many NATO allies actually buy kits through DIANA channels, and whether Deep Breathe expands beyond lung ultrasound into other organs as Arntfield has sketched on the roadmap.