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Voxel touts its 3-D imaging
Firm toiling to publicize the technology
By Dave Anderton
Deseret News business writer
Four-year-old Natalie Wright is apparently no match for gold medalist Jonny Moseley.
Nearly three years ago, the Utah girl survived her first brain tumor operation, thanks to a new medical imaging technology by Voxel Inc., a Provo-based company.
But during a Wednesday morning news conference at the Utah Media Center in downtown Salt Lake City, Moseley, a skier who won an Olympic gold medal in 1998, was besieged by a crowd of national journalists, oblivious to the little girl sitting only feet away and the miracle story of the 3-D imaging system that saved her life.
Voxel is hoping the obscurity doesn't last long.
"We are just beginning to market the product. We are looking to raise $3.5 million to $8 million to take the product to market," said Daniel Burman, president and chief executive officer.
Voxel's technology, already patented and approved by the Food and Drug Administration, acts as a hologram that allows surgeons to picture scanned areas of the body in a volume form.
Stephen Hart, Voxel's chief scientist, invented the technology.
"I had the very first idea of this in 1983 but it wasn't until about 1993 before I had a useful clinical result to show to anybody," Hart said.
Hart, originally from England, was originally trained as an astrophysicist who worked to make a 3-D model for observing an exploding star.
"It was suggested that I try holography. There was some good academic work done in the early 1980s that showed you couldn't make these kind of holograms. The textbooks still say you can't do this," Hart said.
However, Hart took a different approach and found a way to do the impossible.
The holograms, which are made from CT and MRI scans, are put on film and observed in a special box that controls light.
"It's not a way to scan; it's a way to show the results," Hart said, adding that the imaging could help an estimated 17 million people a year.
"We've had cases where it has changed the diagnosis. We've had many cases where it has changed the surgery. And almost always, it makes the surgeons and radiologists much more confident in what they are going to be doing," Hart said.
For Dana Wright, Natalie's mother, the technology is invaluable.
"I just can't imagine a surgeon not wanting to see things in 3-D," Wright said. "I hope they will use this technology to help everyone else."
E-mail: danderton@desnews.com
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February 14, 2002
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