Radiothon Donations Fund Cutting-Edge Technology and Innovation

The Country 105 Caring for Kids Radiothon is a window into the life-changing, life-saving care that happens every day at the Alberta Children’s Hospital. This year there are several special Power Hours, focusing on funding critical equipment and leading-edge science that will help build healthier futures for all children in our community. Global News Calgary will be reporting on several of these crucial pieces of equipment or areas of innovation.

CritiCool Cooling System (Wednesday, 11 a.m.)

The CritiCool Cooling System is life-saving, life-changing technology used in the NICU to help babies born with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, or HIE — a condition that happens when a baby doesn’t get enough oxygen to their brain during birth. When a baby’s brain is deprived of oxygen, damage can continue even after birth. Cooling therapy helps slow that damage, protecting the brain and giving that baby the best possible chance at survival — and a healthy future with significantly reduced – or no – deficits. By cooling the baby, neonatal experts can save precious lives. And futures. Watch it on Global News Calgary.

Intra-Operative Nerve Monitor (Thursday, 9 a.m.)

Your generosity can help fund a state-of-the-art intraoperative nerve monitor gives surgeons real-time feedback during delicate procedures, such as the removal or the thyroid or tumours, and cochlear implantations performed in some of the smallest and most complex spaces in the human body — often just millimetres away from nerves that control essential functions like facial movement, speaking, swallowing and breathing. In children, and especially in babies, these structures are even smaller and more delicate, leaving very little room for error. Watch it on Global News Calgary.

Cellular Therapy (Friday, 9 a.m.)

At the Alberta Children’s Hospital, a new frontier of care is emerging for children with severe immune conditions. Led by Dr. Nicola Wright, teams are advancing pediatric cellular therapy—using living cells, rather than traditional drugs, to treat disease. Similar approaches have transformed cancer care, and are now being adapted to help children with debilitating autoimmune diseases, rare inherited immune disorders, and life-threatening viral infections after transplant. For many families, proven treatments exist elsewhere but have not been available in Canada. Through collaboration across the hospital, research partners, and the University of Calgary, Calgary is now poised to launch Canada’s first Pediatric Cellular Therapy Program—bringing new hope to children with no other options. Watch it on Global News Calgary.