LED Dental
Background
LED Dental Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of LED Medical Diagnostics Inc. (founded in 2003), and is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. LED Dental develops and markets devices for the dental industry to aid in the early detection of abnormal tissue based on its proprietary direct fluorescence visualization technology platform. It is the company’s belief that these devices will prove to be valuable tools in oral cancer screening programs.
LED Dental has commercialized the VELscope® system which consists of a light source and direct viewing handpiece to be used for oral mucosal visualization during oral cavity examinations by health care providers such as dentists and hygienists.
LED’s Technology Platform
The company’s technology was jointly developed by scientists at the British Columbia Cancer Agency (BCCA) and company principal Peter Whitehead. It integrates four concepts: light, sophisticated filtering, natural tissue fluorophores and the power of the human optical and neural physiology.
Its technology platform is based on the direct visualization of tissue fluorescence and the changes in fluorescence that can result when abnormal tissue is present. This technology will help the clinician visualize abnormal tissue beneath the surface that may not be apparent under white light.
LED expects that expanding its proprietary visualization technology beyond dental applications will provide gynecologists, gastroenterologists, ENT specialists, dermatologists and family practitioners with cost-effective tools to aid in cancer and abnormal tissue screening.VELscope
VELscope is comprised of a light source, light guide, and viewing handpiece. The VELscope Handpiece emits a safe, visible, blue light into the oral cavity, which excites mucosal tissue and causes it to fluoresce. The clinician can examine the oral cavity in real time and quickly identify suspicious tissue that may require further investigation. Typically, healthy tissue shows up as a brighter green colour while suspicious tissue can cause a loss of fluorescence, which thus appears dark. When used in combination with traditional oral mucosal examination procedures, VELscope facilitates the discovery and enhances the visualization of mucosal abnormalities. The company received 510(k) clearance for these claims in April 2006.
LED Dental is committed to reducing oral cancer. The services of LED Dental and its partners are directed toward developing a professional outreach program with key university–based oral pathology, oral surgery, and oral medicine leaders worldwide to assist all healthcare providers as the need arises. LED Dental is positioned to facilitate the dissemination of new findings that address early detection based on fluorescence and other technologies.
Last updated 05/23/2006.