Ultra Sonographic Perio Probe A painless way to

Ultra. Sonographic Perio Probe A painless way to monitor periodontal disease • Periodontal disease is the current challenge in dentistry –Tooth attachment destroyed in unpredictable site-specific pattern –Early stages of disease painless, so we don’t floss all that much –Treatment effective, but uncomfortable, expensive, uncovered • No reliable clinical indicators of disease activity: need Gold Standard –Mechanical probing inaccurate, subjective, slow, painful –Subtraction radiography only shows bone loss • Diagnostic ultrasound is widely used in other areas of medicine Visual Programs, Inc. Jack Singer (804) 399 -2552

Ultrasonography in Medicine Click on video at right to hear how the new US Probe uses ultrasonography adapted from medicine. (Old version of probe shown in video. ) Echocardiography Examples Baby Face in the Womb Transrectal ultrasound of Prostate

Probe tip is placed at gum line with thin ultrasound beam projecting into tissues. Ultrasound Transducer Probe Handpiece Ultrasound waves in coupling water are focused inside of tip to a very thin beam Crest of periodontal ligament reflects ultrasound beam. Echoes are recorded by ultrasound transducer and then analyzed by computer expert system. Visual Programs, Inc. Jack Singer (804) 399 -2552

Probe CAD Drawing Water & Electronics Line Current Version of Periodontal Probe: Design to Practice to Clinical Tests

Probe Tips & Transducers

Better balance and feel with contra-angling for easier use Industry standard “quick disconnect” for both cable and coupling water line

Probe tip is placed at gum line with thin ultrasound beam projecting into the periodontal tissues. Instrumentation is all contained within PC. Ours is currently in a ruggedized case for travel to the various clinical sites. Currently doing side-byside comparison to mechanical perio probing. Visual Programs, Inc. Jack Singer (804) 399 -2552

Easy to Use Computer Interface Will be integrated into practice-management software Footpedal starts flow of coupling water, records & archives data, increments

Conventional Manual Periodontal Probing • Not Sterile • Two people • Subjective • Inaccurate • Slow • Painful • Poor Patient Motivation

Slight flow of water is used to ensure coupling of ultrasound in and out of tissues. Probe tip placed at gum line. Click on the video at left to see the US Probe in use.

Distal-Buccal #31

Buccal #31

Mesial-Buccal #31

Patient motivation is enhanced by graphic output of US Probe: contours vs. numbers Click on the video above to hear about why the US Probe will be better at motivating patients for needed treatment. Visual Programs, Inc. Jack Singer (804) 399 -2552

Sorting out these complex waveforms is the hard part. We have several tens of man-years already invested. We know what works well.

Visual Programs Development Team: Medical College of Virginia College of William & Mary NASA Langley NESB Naval Dental School Old Dominion Univ. Hampton Roads Technology Incubator Applied Research Center National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research Center for Innovative Technology Click on the video above to hear more about patient motivation for treatment Visual Programs, Inc. Jack Singer (804) 399 -2552

Processed Waveform Raw Waveform Many waveforms can be “STACKED” to get the image below (left) Pseudo B-Mode Representation Hand Probing at the Same Sties

Expected Product Line • Base Model is Walking Probe – Smartly packaged version of current system • Mid-Range Model is Scanning Probe – Magnetic tracking allows continuous mapping • High-End Model is Imaging Probe – B-mode imager for perio offices & researchers • Many Follow-on Probes – Crack Finder, Root Assessor, Implant Checker – Interchangeable handpieces for perio probes