Qld Uni start-up scores MRI grant

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) research is about to get another boost in Queensland after a grant from the State Government gave a University of Queensland start-up, Magnetica Limited, the push it needed to seek grant-matching investors.

(Lubbock Heart Hospital image by brykmantra, CC BY-SA 2.0)

The investment in the start-up is designed to fund research and development into the next generation of magnets for MRI machines. This would make the third million in grant funding the government has pumped into the company, which uses research from the university as well as computational analysis from the Queensland Cyber Infrastructure Foundation to create its special magnets that create clearer images on MRI machines.

The research results and subsequent intellectual property will be translated and commercialised by UniQuest — the University of Queensland's primary synthesiser of lab ideas into real-world creations and inventions. UniQuest has already transferred lab ideas for new magnets, systems and software to the imaging market.

UniQuest managing director David Henderson said that the new capital raising venture is another step on the road to successful commercialisation.

"This new capital raising venture takes another step along what has been an exciting journey involving a full gambit of commercialisation options, including licences, start-ups, exits, buyouts and industry partnerships," he said.