Technology Entrepreneurship Success: NextRay Inc.

DR. ETTA Pisano spent 20 years developing and evaluating new devices for the detection and diagnosis of breast cancer, becoming one of the preeminent researchers in radiology in the United States. When development of her innovative medical imaging technology began to progress rapidly in recent years, she knew she wanted to create a commercial venture for producing it.

The result is NextRay Inc., a new company developed by Pisano and four co-founders with the help of student teams from several entrepreneurship programs at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and alumni and partner organizations in the region.

NextRay’s breakthrough medical imaging technology produces more detailed images than current x-rays with less than one percent of the radiation dosage currently being used.

“This is an important new technology – one that will improve medical imaging and safety to patients because it makes better pictures at a lower radiation dose. We formed a company so that the technology will be available to patients faster,” said Pisano, president and chief scientific officer for NextRay, vice dean for academic affairs at the UNC School of Medicine, Kenan Professor of Radiology and Biomedical Engineering, director of UNC’s Biomedical Research Imaging Center, and director of the North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute.

NextRay’s business plan was developed with help of student teams who competed in UNC’s Carolina Challenge entrepreneurial business-plan competition and a Student Teams Achieving Results (S.T.A.R) consulting team of MBA and undergraduate students.  

NextRay won the $15,000 first prize in the Carolina Challenge and, with help from the S.T.A.R. team and coaches from another UNC program, “Launching the Venture”, NextRay competed and won second place overall and $140,000 in prize money at the Rice University Business Plan Competition.

“The next step for NextRay is to secure funding,” says Pisano. Her team has already received inquiries from investors and other companies interested in helping her to develop the technology. “The competition prize money will help to finance patent and travel costs, and will allow me to hire more help.”