Polarean, Inc.

05/28/2026

Pediatric patients deserve answers — with imaging that avoids ionizing radiation.

At the International Pediatric Radiology Congress 2026 next week in Boston, we’re showcasing how Xenon MRI enables regional visualization of lung function in a short, single breath-hold exam, with no ionizing radiation.

In pediatric patients with cystic fibrosis, asthma, and primary ciliary dyskinesia, Xenon MRI has detected regional functional abnormalities, including in cases where pulmonary function tests appeared normal.

📍 Heading to IPR 2026? Find us at Booth #15 and connect with our team: Alan Huang, Daniel Booker and Brady Anna.

Xenon MRI Image reference: Schmidt et al., Radiology: Cardiothoracic Imaging 2025. doi:10.1148/ryct.240562



The Society for Pediatric Radiology ESPR- European Society of Paediatric Radiology

05/26/2026

A productive visit to UVA Health, working alongside the group on our Siemens Healthineers XENOVIEW® Chest Coil evaluation and advancing the future of the XENOVIEW® MRI Platform on next-generation 3T MRI systems, including the Siemens Healthineers MAGNETOM Cima.X.

It is especially meaningful to be at UVA, widely recognized as the birthplace of human Xenon MRI and one of the pioneering institutions in the development of hyperpolarized gas MRI.

A special thank you to our own Iain Bruce, PhD, for leading the effort, and to one of our closest collaborators, Professor John Mugler, whose impact on the MRI field extends far beyond Xenon MRI. His contributions to pulmonary MRI, rapid imaging methods, and the development of advanced MRI technology have influenced generations of researchers and clinicians across the broader MRI community.

Excited to continue building on this foundation as functional lung imaging advances.

05/21/2026

What a strong week for Polarean at the International Conference in Orlando!

Our team had the opportunity to connect with clinicians, researchers, and industry partners across pulmonary medicine, imaging, and drug development.

This year, was featured in more than 20 presentations spanning pediatric lung disease, pulmonary hypertension, cardiopulmonary physiology, clinical trial endpoint development, and quantitative functional lung imaging.

We were also proud to have Alex Dusek, Polarean’s Chief Business Officer, present at the Respiratory Innovation Summit on how Xenon MRI may help accelerate cardiopulmonary drug development through noninvasive, regional biomarkers of lung function.

Thank you to everyone who connected with us at ATS and to the researchers continuing to advance the science and clinical application of Xenon MRI.



American Thoracic Society

05/13/2026

Last week, members of the Polarean team were at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) supporting ongoing work in hyperpolarized xenon gas MRI and advanced functional lung imaging.

It was great to spend time with the NIH team as they advance experimental integration of the XENOVIEW® MRI platform in combination with the 80 cm wide-bore Siemens Healthineers MAGNETOM Free.Max 0.55T MRI system for use in their pioneering research in low-field lung imaging.

The visit included technical collaboration, workflow discussions, and additional hands-on training focused on hyperpolarized gas production, system operation. It is exciting to see continued interest in expanding functional lung MRI capabilities across different MRI field strengths and clinical research environments.

We are also encouraged by the growing engagement from investigators connected to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) as the field continues to explore new ways to better understand regional pulmonary and cardiopulmonary disease.

A sincere thank you to the NIH and NHLBI teams for the collaboration and hospitality.

05/08/2026

Polarean is heading to the American Thoracic Society’s Respiratory Innovation Summit next weekend, followed by the ATS 2026 International Conference, where Xenon MRI will be featured in 20+ presentations.

This year’s body of work reflects the continued scientific and clinical momentum of as a cardiopulmonary biomarker platform, with applications spanning pediatric lung disease, treatment-response assessment, clinical trial design, and advanced cardiopulmonary physiology.

At RIS, Polarean Chief Business Officer Alex Dusek will present on Accelerating Cardiopulmonary Drug Development with Xenon MRI, highlighting how quantitative Xenon MRI biomarkers may support trial enrichment, endpoint development, and earlier assessment of treatment response.

Polarean Chief Scientific Officer Bastiaan Driehuys will also deliver two oral presentations at ATS focused on pulmonary hypertension monitoring and precision phenotyping in pulmonary vascular disease.

See the full listing of Xenon MRI-related presentations, including times and locations here:https://polarean.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Xenon-MRI-Advances-as-a-Cardiopulmonary-Biomarker-Platform-at-2026-RIS-and-ATS-_2026-05-07.pdf

We’re looking forward to connecting with clinicians, researchers, and industry partners in Orlando!

🔔 Book time with the Polarean team: Polarean1@polarean.com/" rel="ugc" target="_blank">https://outlook.office.com/book/Polarean1@polarean.com/

05/06/2026

We’re excited to be heading to the American Thoracic Society's Respiratory Innovation Summit , where we're presenting our latest work advancing cardiopulmonary drug development with noninvasive Xenon MRI measures of treatment effects.

Polarean Chief Business Officer Alex Dusek has a featured oral presentation on how Xenon MRI functional imaging biomarkers can help accelerate the development of therapies for pulmonary hypertension, including Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH), Pulmonary Hypertension associated with Interstitial Lung Disease (PH-ILD), and Pulmonary Hypertension with Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction (HFpEF-PH).

We’re looking forward to connecting with innovators, researchers, and industry leaders working to advance the future of respiratory medicine.

Book a meeting with Polarean during RIS or ATS 2026 in Orlando here: Polarean1@polarean.com/" rel="ugc" target="_blank">https://outlook.office.com/book/Polarean1@polarean.com/

04/23/2026

New data continue to highlight how CFTR modulators like Trikafta®* are reshaping pediatric cystic fibrosis care, with advanced imaging offering an increasingly valuable perspective.

Results from the HyPOINT clinical study demonstrate that Xenon MRI metrics showed substantially larger relative improvements compared to traditional lung function metrics such as FEV₁ and lung clearance index.

These findings reinforce an important shift: as therapies improve and patients maintain near-normal spirometry, more sensitive tools are needed to detect and monitor regional lung function changes over time. Notably, imaging was able to capture treatment response even in patients with preserved lung function, where conventional measures showed minimal change.

For clinicians caring for pediatric patients, this underscores the growing role of noninvasive, radiation-free imaging in understanding disease heterogeneity, evaluating treatment response, and supporting longitudinal monitoring in the era of highly effective therapies.

Read the full article and quote by Dr. Felix Ratjen of SickKids Foundation:
https://www.healio.com/news/pulmonology/20251119/trikafta-improves-ventilation-mri-outcomes-in-pediatric-cystic-fibrosis?utm_medium=email&utm_source=rasa_io&utm_campaign=newsletter



*A registered trademark of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated

04/17/2026

Our Chief Business Officer Alex Dusek recently visited the growing program at the UAB - The University of Alabama at Birmingham.

At UAB, Alex participated in a study initiation visit led by Ian Lowe, Clinical Research Associate at Boehringer Ingelheim, for a Phase IIa study in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF). UAB will serve as one of the study sites performing Xenon MRI assessments, supported by an outstanding research team including Elizabeth Plan BS, RRT, Prof. Mark Bolding, PhD, and Teja Kulkarni, MD as the principal investigator.

Under the leadership of Surya Bhatt, the UAB Xenon MRI Advanced Imaging Program continues to expand its impact. The program is poised to conduct Xenon MRI studies across multiple areas, including Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), the Lung Health Cohort, inhaled asthma therapies, interventional pulmonology procedures, and more. Bhatt also directs the UAB Center for Lung Analytics and Imaging Research and is advancing a compelling vision for both research and clinical imaging at UAB.

Polarean looks forward to continuing our collaboration with this pioneering medical center as it works toward becoming the first Xenon MRI clinical imaging center of excellence in the Southeast.

Learn more about our technology: xenoview.net

04/16/2026

During Sarcoidosis Awareness Month, we join the broader community in helping the world .

Sarcoidosis can be complex and often difficult to recognize, with effects that may not always be visible. This month is about shining a light on those unseen experiences, building understanding, and supporting progress in care.

At Polarean, we are focused on helping make the unseen more visible. With , we illuminate regions of the lung that have historically been invisible, helping to support clinical decision-making across disease characterization, treatment planning, assessment over time, and patient understanding.

We recognize the resilience of the sarcoidosis community and the collective efforts of patients, caregivers, clinicians, advocates, and partners who continue to push for moving care forward.

Learn more and get involved: https://www.stopsarcoidosis.org/sarcoidosis-awareness-month/



Foundation for Sarcoidosis Research

04/15/2026

Yesterday was World Quantum Day, and we are proud to highlight how quantum science is already making a real-world impact in healthcare.

At Polarean, the power of optical pumping and hyperpolarization has moved beyond the lab and into patient care, clinical research, and drug development. These same principles are helping shape the future of quantum biosensing and functional medical imaging.

Our journey was shaped by pioneering work from our Chief Scientific Officer Bastiaan Driehuys, PhD, whose landmark publication 30 years ago helped demonstrate high-volume production of laser-polarized xenon-129. That foundational work helped pave the way for what is now modern Xenon MRI.

Today, Dr. Driehuys and his team are continuing that work at Duke Health, advancing gas exchange imaging in interstitial lung disease (ILD) and pulmonary hypertension (PH).

Those same principles are helping clinicians and researchers:

• Detect regional lung disease earlier
• Guide treatment decisions with functional imaging
• Monitor response over time without radiation
• Accelerate development of new therapies through sensitive imaging biomarkers

We are grateful to the hospitals, academic centers, researchers, and clinical teams who continue to advance this field with us and bring innovation to patients.

The quantum era in healthcare is not on the horizon. It is already here. ⚛️

04/08/2026

Released today in the April issue of the CHEST® journal, this peer-reviewed research highlights the potential of structural and functional pulmonary MRI to help identify future pulmonary exacerbation risk in cystic fibrosis.

In the study, people with abnormal ventilation defect percentage (VDP) had a nearly 3x greater pulmonary exacerbation incidence rate.

These findings add to the growing body of research exploring how Xenon MRI provides sensitive regional functional insights in .

Read the article: https://journal.chestnet.org/article/S0012-3692(25)05689-2/abstract

INSIDE LOOK 👀 Read from the upcoming issue (April 8): Original research findings show that structural and functional MRI measurements in people with cystic fibrosis (CF) were associated with future exacerbations, likely because they directly measure underlying structural and functional aspects of disease.

Read more in the journal CHEST®: https://hubs.la/Q0477C_m0