Innovator: Steve BairdAge: 60Chief executive officer of S-Ray, a Reno, Nev.-based startup with four full-time employees Form and functionClearView Scan, a combo of ultrasound hardware and 3D-imaging software, is meant to take the place of dental X-rays. It emits no harmful radiation and, its inventors say, makes more precise measurements than X-rays do. OriginBaird formed S-Ray in 2008 to develop the product after Oregon dentist Ken Johnson brought him a prototype based on the ultrasound devices used to examine lumber. FundingSome 200 individuals, including Johnson and about 100 other dentists, have invested about $10 million in S-Ray.
1. ScanA patient bites a mouthpiece connected by USB cable to a dentist’s laptop. The dentist uses ultrasound transducers in the mouthpiece to scan the patient’s teeth in 40 seconds.
2. ImageS-Ray’s cloud service allows dentists to receive instant 3D images. They can then check for cavities and cracks, diagnose gum disease, and measure for braces, dentures, or implants.
HardwareBaird says a ClearView Scan reusable mouthpiece will cost $9,850. SoftwareDentists pay $6 per image, less than the cost of an X-ray. Next Steps“This is the kind of disruptive technology that may really change the dental world,” says Joerd van der Meer, a dentist and professor at the University of Groningen Medical Centre in the Netherlands. Baird says S-Ray will release ClearView Scan by next year, pending U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval, and that he’s also working on a countertop product that can scan dental impressions.
To contact the author of this story: Michael Belfiore in at michael@michaelbelfiore.com.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jeff Muskus at jmuskus@bloomberg.net.
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