Tallahassee, Fla. — Tallahassee-based MagCorp and Philips have signed an agreement to connect scientists from the Florida State University-headquartered National High Magnetic Field Laboratory with industry professionals to make MR imaging more affordable, accessible, and sustainable.

The deal between MagCorp and Philips is the result of continued collaboration and work among a variety of partners including Florida State University, the National MagLab and the Tallahassee-Leon County Office of Economic Vitality.

MRI systems are one of the most widely used medical tools for injury and disease detection, diagnosis, and treatment monitoring. Philips’ purpose is to improve the lives of 2.5 billion people per year by 2025, including 400 million in underserved communities – increasing MRI access contributes to this effort. Lowering the initial acquisition and operating costs of MRIs in the future could revolutionize access to the delivery of care.

“Industrial advancement outside of current MRI technology is bringing new capabilities into play that have historically been out of reach for MRI Magnets,” said Josh Hilderbrand, Director, Head of MRI Magnet Research and Development with Philips. “Finding ways to leverage emerging technologies and apply them to MRI has the potential to increase accessibility, impacting more lives in support of Philips’ mission and vision.”

“FSU’s MagLab offers us key resources in researching technologies for lower cost MRI options — and MagCorp provides easy access to these key resources.”

The agreement between Philips and MagCorp allows MagCorp to hire MagLab researchers as consultants to work on technological hurdles such as the current magnet technologies and their supporting infrastructure

MagCorp is a burgeoning Tallahassee firm founded by MagLab staffers that aims to harness the power of experts from the world’s premier magnet facility to solve real-world problems. In 2021, the company and FSU agreed to share resources and intellectual property rights in an effort to strengthen relationships between the university and private industry.  

“This is a new team approach to leverage the MagLab’s incredible research capabilities to address big technical challenges faced by the private sector, all while helping to grow our local economy,’ said FSU MagLab Director Greg Boebinger.

“We are excited and honored to be working with Philips and FSU,” said Jeffrey Whalen, director of MagCorp. “This is just the beginning of a new age of public-private partnership in which FSU’s research capabilities will be fully connected to the global marketplace.”

The agreement between MagCorp and Philips comes at a time when collaboration in the healthcare sector is already beginning to blossom. The Florida Legislature recently approved $125 million in funding to build FSU Health – Tallahassee Center, an academic health center that will be located on the Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare campus.

“Tallahassee has the potential to become a leading hub of medical research and technology in the nation,” said TMH CEO Mark O’Bryant. “This partnership between Philips and MagCorp fits perfectly into the model we are building as a community.”

Philips was introduced to MagCorp by the Tallahassee-Leon County Office of Economic Vitality. New OEV Director Keith Bowers lauded the team for bringing the parties together. 

“This is a classic example of the type of economic development we are cultivating,” Bowers said. “Our job is to bring businesses and industry to the table and plug them in with the wealth of resources and assets available across our community. This connection creates opportunities. That’s exactly what happened here.”Dr. Temple O. Robinson is the CEO of the Bond Community Health Center in Tallahassee, a federally qualified health center for underserved communities. Robinson says this type of technology could make a huge difference for the people Bond serves. “An MRI is a critical health technology and should be as accessible to the broadest possible population,” Robinson said.