Weinberg Medical Physics LLC is installing an ultra-fast MRI at the University of Maryland College Park’s Maryland Neuroimaging Center in a joint project with the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. The ultra-fast magnetic resonance imaging device will be operational by early next year, allowing clearer resolution of the brain than available with existing MRIs, according to the Bethesda-based medical device company.
Irving Weinberg, MD. and PhD., founder and president, says the company is also in preclinical trials on two of its devices, in preparation for U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval.
One device is a small, inexpensive and portable MRI machine, based on its ultra-fast technology, that could replace dental x-rays.
The second device is a nanoparticle-enabled system for image-guided drug delivery to structures in the brain that is being built in collaboration with the University of Maryland, College Park and Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
Weinberg says that clinical trials for FDA approval should begin in two years for the dental system, and in five years for the drug delivery system.
Once the company has FDA approval, Weinberg expects to manufacture medical devices for those purposes or to upgrade existing MRIs with the technology.
Weinberg founded the company in 2006, based on clinical trials that showed stronger magnetic fields—which produce more accurate MRI images—can be used without causing unpleasant sensations, if they're changed quickly enough.
“We can use it [the MRI device] for various purposes -- teeth, brain and oncology, for example, prostate and breast cancer,” says Weinberg. “The key is we can image structures as small as cells.”
The privately-owned company has four full-time and four part-time employees. Funding comes from $8 million in grants from the National Institutes of Health; a $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation and US Department of Energy; $60,000 from the Maryland Technology Development Corporation; and sales and licensing.