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SBIR and STTR Success Story for Xoran Technologies Inc. (Information Posted/Updated on 10/05/2006) |
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Xoran Technologies Inc. 309 N 1st St Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Contact: Malorie Kersten Phone: 734 663 7194 x 137 Fax: 734 663 8500 E-mail: mkersten@xorantech.com Web Site: http://www.xorantech.com |
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Project Title: MiniCAT™ |
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| Related Award(s): R44 DE015912-03 | |
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Technology Developed:
Xoran developed small, low radiation CT scanners for dental and medical specialists to diagnose their patients at their point-of-care. Xoran’s first product was a dental CT scanner (now called i-CAT). Before i-CAT, most dental specialists needing diagnostic images of their patients either used in-house 2D x-ray devices or sent their patients to hospitals and imaging centers for CT scans. Both options posed problems: 2D x-ray often failed to show details important to full and accurate diagnosis and operative planning, and outsourcing CT scans led to delays in patient diagnosis and treatment. Using i-CAT, dental specialists have instant access to exceptional quality, 3D images, expediting accurate diagnosis, and improving operative outcomes. Xoran next launched its MiniCAT™ sinus and ear CT scanner used by physicians to diagnose patients during office exams. Before MiniCAT™, these doctors had to send their patients off-site to hospitals or imaging centers for CT scans, requiring patients to make several trips between their doctors’ office and the imaging center and to make multiple health insurance co-pays. With MiniCAT™, doctors scan their patients during their exam and get instant access to high-quality CT scans, expediting diagnosis and treatment. In addition, MiniCAT™ scans are quick and safe: adult scans take 40 seconds, pediatric scans take only 20 seconds, and MiniCAT™ sinus scans have ten times of a lower radiation dose than sinus scans taken on a full-body CT scanner.
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| Key Words: MiniCAT, i-CAT, 3D x-ray, Computed Tomography (CT), CT scanner, Temporal Bone CT, Skull-Base CT. | |
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Uses of Technology/Products/Service:
MiniCAT™ meets the current and evolving needs of ENT and Allergy Physicians and their practices and patients, and i-CAT meets the specific imaging needs of dental specialists. Xoran’s scanners create high resolution CT slices as thin as 0.2 mm, and display instant digital views in all three of the axial, coronal, and sagittal planes. This is considerably better spatial resolution than scans taken with a full-body CT scanner. The dental specialist or physician controls the timing and quality of scans. The scan takes only 40 seconds for adults and 20 seconds for children, and the radiation dose to the patient is 10X lower than scans taken on a full-body scanner. Xoran’s MiniCAT™ scanners are compatible with most image-guided surgery systems and provide more flexibility for surgical planning and post-operative evaluations and care. MiniCAT™ features industry standard DICOM network capabilities, making it simple to transmit images for teleradiology services. With the MiniPACS web-enabled system, doctors can view images anywhere with internet access.
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Benefit to Company:
Thanks to NIH SBIR grants from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), Xoran Technologies, Inc. (www.xorantech.com) brought its specialized point-of-care computed tomography (CT) scanners from the research lab to the commercial market in less than 3 years. Xoran has sold more than 600 of its dental i-CAT scanners worldwide through a licensed distributor, and more than 100 MiniCAT™ sinus and ear scanners nationwide. Xoran’s initial NIH SBIR NIDCR grants totaling $850K, along with about $200K in non-NIH support, directly lead to about $15M in sales revenue from a new technology that improves patient care, and has created 36 jobs to date for Xoran, about the same amount for Xoran’s dental distributor, and generated substantial business for U.S. vendors and component suppliers. The NIH SBIR program made it possible for Xoran to grow from a two man start up to a profitable commercial enterprise with significant sales revenue with two of its initial product lines now sold throughout the world.
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How Product Was Commercialized:
The NIH SBIR program made it possible for Xoran to fund early development of its technology. When Xoran obtained FDA approval for its CT technology, it licensed the right to distribute its specialized dental scanners (i-CAT) to a dental imaging company. In its first year of sales, Xoran’s dental distributor sold more than 80 dental scanners in the U.S., Brazil, Korea, and Japan. Today, more than 600 i-CAT scanners have been sold worldwide. Then Xoran launched direct sales of MiniCAT™ and has sold more than 100 scanners throughout the U.S.
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| Past R&D and/or Sales from this Project: $5+ M | |
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