Canon U.S.A. has entered into respective collaborative research agreements with Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), both located in Boston, to develop biomedical optical imaging and medical robotics technologies, among other initiatives.

The goal of the agreements is to develop and commercialize medical devices for a variety of applications including detection of cardiovascular disease, brain functional imaging, robotics-assisted neurosurgery and miniature endoscopy, according to Lake Success, N.Y.-based Canon.

The collaboration involves technology experts from the MGH Wellman Center for Photomedicine, MGH Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, MGH Pathology Imaging and Communication Technology Center, BWH National Center for Image Guided Therapy and BWH Center for Image-based Phenotyping.