Hugh
A. Stoddart, Ph.D., Founder, CEO,
President
Dr. Stoddart
received his BS from Knox College (Elizabeth B. Smith Award
for Excellence in Physics), his MS from Worcester Polytechnic
Institute (Tau Beta Pi, Sigma Pi Sigma), and his Sc.M. and
Ph.D. from Brown University (Sigma Xi). He is a
hands-on experimental physicist with expertise in
instrumentation, data analysis, and modeling of complex
physical systems. Additional areas of expertise include
electronics, assembly and high-level programming, numerical
computation, statistics, neural networks, pattern
recognition, and image analysis. He has created a
unique interactive, multitasking software development
environment for the Macintosh computer. Dr. Stoddart
has been involved with the development of the Harvard
Multicrystal point-focus camera from the beginning. In
1974 he assisted HF Stoddart, inventor of the camera, in
working out reconstructions for various paper designs.
In 1987 he became a consultant to Strichman Medical Equipment
and was responsible for developing new, 2D reconstruction
algorithms that quickly replaced the original heuristic
methods. He has authored two papers on the
camera. He also worked out algorithms and wrote the
image reconstruction code for rotating gamma camera
tomography used by the Strichman Gamma 600 nuclear medicine
workstation in cardiac imaging centers.
In addition to reconstruction algorithms, he developed
innovative approaches to image analysis generally, including
co-registration of functional brain images with MRI and other
modalities. A joint poster with Harvard Medical Schools
Professor Thomas Hill won first prize at the 1993 Chicago
meeting of the Radiological Society of North America.
All software for the Harvard-SFP cameras presently in use
worldwide was written entirely by him. Dr. Stoddart has
authored 12 papers on the physics of semiconductors.
Hugh
F. Stoddart, Founder,
Vice Chairman,
& Chief Scientific Officer
H.F. Stoddart has
extensive experience in the management of high-tech
companies, A partial list includes: VP, Atomic
Instrument Company; VP, Baird Corporation; President, Atomium
Corporation; Manager, Laser Department, Perkin-Elmer;
Director and VP, Bedford Engineering Corp. and Cleon
Corporation; VP, Union Carbide Imaging Systems; Assistant to
the President, Union Carbide Medical Products Division; and
President, Strichman Medical Equipment, Inc. He has
also served on boards of directors and scientific advisory
boards.
Stoddart received his BS in physics with a minor in biology
from Caltech and, after several years at the Los Alamos
Scientific Laboratory Physics Division, went on to MIT for
graduate studies and research. He is an inventor (40 US
and foreign patents) with extensive practical experience.
A consultant to the pioneering Atomic Instrument Company, he
left MIT in 1954 to join the company where he developed an
internationally recognized product line of nuclear
instrumentation including the first positron coincidence
brain scanner (with Massachusetts General Hospital) and the
first multichannel gamma-ray spectrometer (with Oak Ridge
National Laboratory). He oversaw the development of a
low-power, high-reliability computer (with the Naval Research
Laboratory). In 1956, Atomic merged with Baird
Associates and Stoddart introduced the first high-speed
cardiac camera and a line of portable monitoring instruments.
Stoddart founded the Atomium Corporation and received the
Master Design award for the first nuclear medicine blood
volume measurement instrument for operating room use.
Atomium was the first company in New England to receive
President Kennedy's E (Export) award.
In 1963, after Atomium was bought by Miles Laboratories,
Stoddart started a ongoing consulting practice that included
work for various technology-based companies and the US
government.[1] Joining Cleon Corporation, he invented a
unique and popular (nearly 100 units sold) whole-body scanner
and, in 1973, invented the novel rectilinearly scanned focal
point (SFP) brain imager for nuclear medicine. After
Union Carbide Imaging Systems bought Cleon, he and his son
continued the design of the SFP and developed the first
61-tube, wide field-of-view gamma camera. When Union
Carbide withdrew to its core businesses, it gifted the
patents, designs, inventory, and other property associated
with the SFP technology to Harvard University.
When Strichman Medical Equipment licensed the SFP rights from
Harvard University, Stoddart became president and continued
the development of the brain scanner and oversaw the
development of the Gamma 600, a popular, low-cost,
high-performance nuclear medicine work-station based on the
Macintosh computer. After leaving Strichman, he and his
son formed NeuroPhysics Corporation in 1995.
[1] Various
devices and methods including: optical mammography, cerebral
oximetry, point-of-sale barcode reading, railroad tunnel
clearance mapping, laser-Raman sampler, toroidal lens for
focusing x-rays, laser retinal coagulator, miniature x-ray
generator, detector for bones in Chicken McNuggets,
modification of chest x-ray to measure heart wall motion,
signature verification, fly-eye optical system for decoding
images, x-ray fluorescence elemental analysis, large image
intensifier gamma camera, coded aperture gamma camera, real
time assay of silver in watch batteries, detection of nuclear
weapons, non-contacting weight measurement for
pharmaceuticals, and a radiation dosimeter based on
thermoluminescence.
Thomas
C. J. Sefranek, B.S.
Vice President,
Engineering
Tom Sefranek is a
degreed electronic engineer and has broad experience with
electronic systems of all kinds. At the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratories for many years,
he participated in research on re-entry vehicles, optical
deep space surveillance, netted Radar, and Airborne
Battlefield Radar Technology. Sefranek was a working
member of the components committee and introduced several new
designs for prototyping circuit boards as well as introducing
a single board single chip micro-controller development
system. His designs for the gantry computer and
associated electronics are based on new, state-of-the-art
digital technology resulting in high reliability at the
lowest cost.
Dale
J. Martin, B.S.
Senior Mechanical
Engineer, and Product Manager
Dale J. Martin is
a degreed mechanical engineer and is the Product
Manager. With 20 years of direct experience in the
development of scanning focal point (SFP) technology, he is
exceedingly knowledgeable about all aspects of the system,
including its production, sales, service, and
applications. Working with several leading research
institutions during his career, Martin was involved in a
variety of related imaging projects including brain mapping
and measurement of visual activation, various addiction
studies, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder research, and growth
of neuro transplantation of tissue in Parkinsonian
monkeys. He is responsible for all scanner
specifications and for providing close support to the users
of the scanner worldwide, and is actively involved with sales
and market development.
Christina
Sefranek,
Director of Information Technology
Ms. Sefranek is
currently pursuing her degree in Information Technology at
the University of Massachusetts Lowell. She has worked in the
field of information technology for over 13 years. Her
experience in project management and expertise with various
computer applications has made her a valuable member of the
NeuroPhysics team. She provides purchasing, assembly, testing
and documentation services for optical and electronic
components of the MollyQ products. Ms. Sefranek also provides
a variety of financial services to NeuroPhysics including
accounts payable/receivable, budget planning, purchasing,
inventory management and product cost analysis.
Board of
Directors
Alan
J. Tuchman, M.D.
Chairman
Hugh
F. Stoddart
Vice
Chairman
Hugh
A. Stoddart, Ph.D.
Albert Stone