Low-Dose Dental X-Ray Imaging System

How does the device work?

The low dose x-ray imaging system (LDXI) will help dentists work safer, easier and faster through: 1) Lower dose (>93%): by reducing the milliamperes (mA) setting at the x-ray source from 7 mA to 0.2 mA. 2) Higher resolution (smaller pixel size: 6 um): due to a microlens array & back illumination (BI) technologies which collects and focuses light that would have otherwise fallen on to the non-sensitive areas of the sensor for higher quantum efficiency & spatial resolution. 3) Live visualization (30 frames per second): will allow dentists to visualize dental procedures during performance like a real-time dental GPS.

What problem in healthcare does it solve?

Dental x-rays have been associated with an increased risk of brain and salivary gland tumors and thyroid cancer. Currently, dentists can only monitor treatment progress by taking radiographs before and after a procedure through ‘static’ imaging. Consequently, 2.2 million root canals (10%) and 100,000 dental implants (10%) fail due to operative errors in the U.S. alone costing dentistry approximately $500 million per year. As a result, lower mA setting at the x-ray source, the use of microlens/BI at the detector for a lower dose, higher resolution and live visualization will have a dramatic impact on public health.

Why should the device be commercialized?

The device offers dentists the ability to increase the quality and efficiency of the care they provide through the 100 million dental x-rays taken each year in the U.S. It will increase the productivity of their practice with a payback period within two years. Company market research indicated the profession would embrace a new imaging technology that reduces radiation dose and provides dynamic imaging. The global dental imaging market is expected to reach $2.68 billion by 2019 from $1.69 billion in 2014, growing at a CAGR of 9.7%. RTI Tech believes its addressable market is $600 million in the U.S.

What inspired you to design this device?

While discussing root canal procedural errors as using available dental imaging technologies, one of the physicians who shared the office with the LDXI inventor asked him: ‘how come you and the patient are struggling like this, if you could have the fluoroscope, you would have like Superman’s x-ray vision and see your work during performance, just like we do.’ Our dream is to provide a lower dose, higher resolution and live visualization technology to dentists so they can provide safer, easier and more efficient dentistry to patients for societal benefit through the miniaturization of the medical fluoroscope for dental use.

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