A University of New Hampshire physics professor鈥檚 innovations enabling magnetic resonance imaging to better see inside the lungs form the core of the university鈥檚 second spinout company, backed by three new grants from the National Institutes of Health.
With $300,000 awarded and another $2 million anticipated in NIH Small Business Technology Transfer grants over the next 2陆 years, Professor, and now CEO, Bill Hersman launched Xemed LLC to commercialize the technology he developed for polarizing xenon gas.
鈥淧rof. Hersman鈥檚 initial work was driven by intellectual curiosity and wasn鈥檛 designed for commercial development,鈥� said UNH Vice President for Research and Public Service John Aber. 鈥淭his clearly demonstrates the value of basic research at UNH, both for our ability to improve the human condition and to support economic development.鈥�
When inhaled by patients, polarized xenon allows MRI to produce a clear picture of the lungs鈥� interior, which cannot be seen with conventional techniques. It could benefit millions who suffer from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, the fourth leading cause of death in the United States, by allowing doctors to see which parts of the lungs are affected.
Hersman has secured FDA approval to test polarized xenon with MRI in humans. The testing is scheduled for later this year with Sam Patz, a collaborator at Brigham and Women鈥檚 Hospital in Boston. 鈥淭he pressure is on now,鈥� said Hersman. 鈥淭he world has been waiting long enough for a diagnostic procedure for lung health, so we鈥檙e scrambling to provide that.鈥�
Hersman developed his technique for polarizing xenon, the most effective in the world, with previous NIH funding. The new grants will fund research to further refine the technology and shrink its size.
鈥淭o make it practical we had to make it fit into a cabinet small enough so that every hospital with an MRI unit could have one,鈥� said Hersman. 鈥淭he challenge is to bring everything together into a small space without the three magnetic fields involved interfering with one another.鈥�
UNH has already filed for three patents based on Hersman鈥檚 innovations and is in the process of filing for two more. 鈥淭his is great for UNH and New Hampshire,鈥� said Robert Dalton, director of UNH鈥檚 Office of Intellectual Property Management, 鈥渂ecause students can continue to be involved in the development of the technology and if the company takes off, it could be located right here in the Seacoast.鈥�
Still in an R&D phase, Xemed has only one employee besides Hersman, but in the next three years he envisions hiring three or four more to help hand-build polarizers. The company would probably not sell them, said Hersman, but rather provide annual service agreements to provide polarized xenon on site in hospitals and research institutions.
In time, Hersman said the number of employees could grow dramatically. 鈥淚f we can demonstrate it is effective in not only assessing and monitoring diseases, but also in helping determine鈥攚hether a patient should have drugs or surgery鈥攊t could be ten times that,鈥� he said, 鈥渁nd if HMO鈥檚 start reimbursing for the procedure, it could be 100 times that.鈥�
Source: University of New Hampshire
