Topic: How To Invest

Pat: can you comment on IMRIS Inc.? It is a smaller company, not well diversified in products and the stock is traded somewhat thinly.

Article Excerpt

IMRIS Inc., $5.25, symbol IM on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 32.9 million; Market cap: $172.5 million), develops, designs and makes imaging systems for use in neurosurgery and other medical procedures. The company’s systems incorporate many imaging technologies, including magnetic resonance imaging, fluoroscopy and computed tomography. What sets IMRIS’s technology apart is its portability. IMRIS systems can be easily moved to the patient in the operating room. In contrast, other systems require the patient to be moved to a separate room for scanning. IMRIS believes that if doctors use its systems while performing medical procedures, they’ll receive more timely information about a patient’s condition. That will help them provide more effective treatment. As a result, surgical outcomes could improve, and patients may need additional surgery less often. IMRIS’s first and main product is IMRISneuro, which provides images of the brain during surgery. Brain surgery is very invasive, so it’s crucial to disturb healthy brain tissue as little as possible. Neurosurgical procedures may benefit from…