Startup spotlight - EXCMR

The purpose:

EXCMR, Ltd. is a Columbus, OH based startup company formed for the purpose of creating a safer and more effective method of detecting heart disease.

The four individuals that make up the initial ownership/management team of EXCMR are the co-inventors of both the MRI compatible treadmill and the exercise stress CMR process, technologies developed at The Ohio State University.

The URL: http://www.excmr.com/company
The people:

Orlando P. Simonetti, PhD.-Chief Executive Officer: Dr. Simonetti received his doctorate in biomedical engineering from Case Western Reserve University in 1992. He subsequently joined Siemens Medical Systems and within 5 years he became Director of Siemens Cardiovascular MR R&D. He currently serves as the director of cardiac MRI research at The Ohio State University

Subha V. Raman, MD, MSEE-Chief Medical Officer.
After obtaining her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering, Dr. Raman completed medical school and fellowship training in cardiology at The Ohio State University. She currently serves as the clinical director of cardiac MRI and CT at The Ohio State University Medical Center.

Eric L. Foster, MSME - Chief Operations Officer, Lead Engineer.

Mr. Foster received his M.S. in Mechanical Engineering at the Ohio State University in 2009. He has experience in both medical device design and retail management. As a graduate student at OSU, Mr. Foster was responsible for the development of the prototype treadmill exercise CMR system.

John W. Arnold, MSAgE, PE - Chief Technology Officer

Mr. Arnold received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at OSU, where he is currently Assistant Professor of Engineering Technology and program coordinator for the Hydraulic Power and Motion Control AAS degree. Mr. Arnold has more than 26 years of experience in the field of hydraulics, including development of machines for agriculture, mining and construction applications.

The timeline:

September 2009

• EXCMR receives STTR grant from the NIH

August 2009

• Exercise Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging adopted into clinical practice at The Ohio State University's Ross Heart Hospital

June 2009

• EXCMR, Ltd. hired first employee

April 2009

• Received UTTC qualification from The Ohio State University's Technology Licensing and Commercialization Office

• Signed option agreement for rights to OSU technology (invented by EXCMR members at OSU)

• US Patent Application submitted

February 2009

• EXCMR, Ltd. awarded Commercialization Funding grant from the Global Cardiovascular Innovations Center.

• EXCMR, Ltd. wins Outstanding Startup Business TechColumbus Innovation Award.

September 2008

• EXCMR, Ltd. awarded TechGenesis grant by TechColumbus.

June 2008

• EXCMR, Ltd. awarded $4000 grant from TechColumbus to support submission of Phase I NIH STTR grant application

May 2008

• EXCMR, Ltd. takes second place in The Ohio State University, Fisher College of Business, Deloitte Business Plan Competition.