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. 

An option agreement has been signed with The Ohio State University Technology Licensing and Commercialization office for exclusive rights to evaluate the technology.   

Our Business

The Concept:  Treadmill exercise stress testing in conjunction with cardiac imaging is an essential tool in the detection, and treatment of heart disease.  Over ten million of these tests are performed in the USA each year with either single photon emission tomography (SPECT) imaging or cardiac ultrasound (echocardiography).  Both modalities suffer from image quality limitations, and SPECT imaging involves significant radiation exposure.  Furthermore, neither of these methods provides assessment of both cardiac function and perfusion at stress. 

The unmet clinical and technical needs for accurate stress cardiac imaging include: (1) high-resolution cardiac imaging that is impervious to artifact imposed by nuclear attenuation artifact or acoustic window; (2) rapid image acquisition following exercise to accurately reflect cardiac performance at peak stress; and (3) elimination of ionizing radiation.

Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) already provides a complete cardiac evaluation in a single examination; however, exercise stress CMR has not been feasible to date because:

·         Traditional treadmills cannot be safely placed in the same room as the MRI due to the strong magnetic field associated with an MRI system.

·         Rapid acquisition of cardiac function and myocardial perfusion immediately post-exercise is not feasible with a remotely located treadmill.

The Technology:  The key enabling technology is an innovative non-ferromagnetic treadmill that uses water hydraulic power, allowing convenient placement adjacent to an MRI machine.  The system enables image acquisition immediately post-exercise, meeting American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines for imaging within 60 seconds post-exercise.  Ohio startup company EXCMR plans to develop and market the necessary hardware and software for safe and effective treadmill exercise testing in an MR environment, uniting the superior imaging capabilities of CMR with the necessary direct observation and ECG evaluation of the exercising patient with known or suspected CAD.

Who We Are

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.