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Xemed

Company

A laser company in Durham, New Hampshire

Background

We founded Xemed in 2004 in Durham, New Hampshire. A method of polarizing noble gases had been invented at the University of New Hampshire. We formed the company to develop that method into instruments that hospitals and laboratories can operate. We design and build our polarizers, our high-power diode laser systems, and their control software in-house.

Our xenon polarizers have been fully automated since 2010, and they operate at clinical research sites. MagniXene® is our hyperpolarized xenon-129. It has been studied in people under an Investigational New Drug application since 2005. These studies include clinical trials and research studies with collaborators at several academic medical centers.

We have also built and sold a helium-3 polarizer, which we are now installing. Much of our research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Energy.

Founder

Head-and-shoulders portrait of the company's founder.

F. William Hersman, Ph.D.

Founder and CEO

F. William Hersman is the founder and CEO of Xemed and Professor Emeritus of Physics at the University of New Hampshire. He received his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1982 and worked in experimental nuclear physics. His later research covers optical pumping of alkali vapors, hyperpolarized noble gases, and high-power diode lasers.